Our Treatment of People with Disabilities

In my teen years in New York, two celebrities played huge roles in raising awareness of the needs of people with intellectual disabilities.

Local WABC reporter Geraldo Rivera’s “The Last Great Disgrace” (1972) revealed horrid conditions at Staten Island’s Willowbrook State School.  While his documentary featured nudity, a nonchalant comment about “therapeutic” abortion, and dated language, the revelations of society’s hideous neglect shook consciences!  Deeply impacted by Rivera, former Beatle and New York City resident John Lennon raised further awareness – as well as funds – via the “One to One” concert.

John Lennon’s involvement made it “cool” to be concerned about people with intellectual disabilities.  I became one of many teens to volunteer for such activities as a summer day camp.  Though I may now look back and shudder at some bizarre presentations that passed for religious education in the 1970s, I very proudly recall that my diocese was at the forefront of efforts to enhance the treatment of people with disabilities.  We youth of that era were provided with chances to serve Jesus in our brothers and sisters!  The mid-1970s also saw the launch of other greatly improved opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities, including a movement away from institutionalization to community living.

I believe Geraldo and John helped jar the Church into recommitting herself to the sanctity of life of all people with disabilities.  In 1978, American Catholics received the “Pastoral Statement of U.S. Catholic Bishops on Persons with Disabilities” (first published as the “Pastoral Statement of U.S. Catholic Bishops on Handicapped People” and then revised/reprinted with its current title in 1989.), noting that:

we must acknowledge that at times we have responded to the needs of some of our people with disabilities only after circumstances or public opinion have compelled us to do so….the principles on which our democracy is founded…guarantee certain rights to all Americans, regardless of their circumstances….We see defense of the right to life of persons with disabilities as a matter of particular urgency…because the presence of handicapping conditions is not infrequently used as a rationale for abortion. Moreover, those babies with severe disabilities who are permitted to be born are sometimes denied ordinary and usual medical procedures.

A Silent Genocide

Down Syndrome is a congenital condition that usually features an intellectual disability.  While many at the Willowbrook State School in 1972 probably had Down Syndrome, society now sees far fewer people with Down Syndrome.

With 1973′s Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, the mid-1970s saw a floodgate opened and abortion rates increase astronomically. After doctors began reporting that they could identify Down syndrome in utero, the abortion rate of preborn children with Down syndrome went through the roof. As per the famous sibling of a famous young child with Down syndrome: ‘In the United States, would you believe 92 percent of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome are aborted before they get a chance to take a breath? When I hear this statistic, it makes me want to burst into tears. … I’d have a Down syndrome baby in a heartbeat, and I know anyone else would if they saw any sort of glimpse of how perfect my little brother is’ (Bristol Palin, May 15, 2012) (J. Tevington, 1/1/13).

With Down Syndrome being relatively easy to identify in utero, we have witnessed pre-born children with Down Syndrome become incredibly vulnerable.  While retrospectives on the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act are generally positive, the “elephant in the room” of so-called “therapeutic” abortion seemingly goes ignored!

Guidance from the Holy Fathers: Respect for People with Disabilities

How can we claim that life has improved for people with disabilities when so many have been prevented from seeing the light of day?  Society needs to treasure the sanctity of their lives from the very first moment of fertilization/conception till natural death.

The starting point for every reflection on disability is rooted in the fundamental convictions of Christian anthropology: even when disabled persons are mentally impaired or when their sensory or intellectual capacity is damaged, they are fully human beings and possess the sacred and inalienable rights that belong to every human creature….The quality of life in a community is measured largely by its commitment to assist the weaker and needier members with respect for their dignity as men and women (Saint Pope John Paul II, To the Participants in the International Symposium on The Dignity and Rights of the Mentally Disabled Person, 1/5/2004).

God has blessed you with life, and with differing talents and gifts. Through these you are able to serve him and society in various ways. While some people’s contributions seem great and others’ more modest, the witness value of our efforts is always a sign of hope for everyone…. God’s unconditional love, which bathes every human individual, points to a meaning and purpose for all human life (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, Meeting with Young People Having Disabilities, 4/19/2008).

[“Throwaway”] culture affects especially the most vulnerable, among whom are the persons with disabilities….it is important, on this Day, to promote a culture of life that constantly affirms the dignity of every person and works especially to defend men and women with disabilities, of all ages and social conditions (Pope Francis, International Day of Persons with Disabilities, 12/3/2020)

Amidst a seemingly sophisticated world, let us not lose sight of the simple message to love and treasure all our brothers and sisters.