Hannah Soyer
Protesters with disabilities, mainly those associated with disability rights group ADAPT, are being dragged out of their wheelchairs by police officers. On July 7, for example, a disabled protester at Sen. Rob Portman’s office in Ohio was forcibly removed from his wheelchair by being pulled out of it and onto the floor. Another woman was taken from her wheelchair and put into a van. Although this sounds like something from a dystopian novel about a society living in an authoritarian state, I assure you it’s real life. Of course, the distance between the fictional story I described and our current national situation is debatable, but you get the picture.
In June, physician Marc Siegel appeared on Fox News (he’s a regular guest) to discuss the proposed GOP health-care bill, at that time the American Health-Care Act. He said that many people on Medicaid are receiving too much care and even stated that those who rely on wheelchairs don’t actually need a new one every two years.
The maximum number of hours of personal care provided under Medicaid hovers around six per day. If you’re someone who needs almost around-the-clock care, such as me, six hours is nowhere near “too much care.” And as far as wheelchairs go, the reality is that Medicaid does not pay for a new one every two years. The average waiting time for a new chair is five to six years, and then, a doctor and physical therapist must prove to insurance that the new wheelchair is necessary. I know this because I am in the process of getting a new wheelchair right now.
So wheelchairs. Let’s talk about them. Every single person with a disability is different and has different needs. Some people who rely on wheelchairs can sit unaided out of their wheelchair. Some can even bear weight or walk small distances. Others, including me, need their wheelchair to fully support their body and sitting position. I can’t sit on a bench without someone holding me up, I can’t bear any weight, and I certainly would be completely helpless if I was forcibly removed from my wheelchair.
So here’s a secret to everyone reading this, particularly law enforcement: It is possible to remove someone in a wheelchair from a scene after arresting them without taking them out of the very thing that allows to sit upright and support their own body. All it takes is a police force willing to learn about how wheelchairs work and how the bodies of those with disabilities function. Although motorized wheelchairs are often heavy (mine weighs 377 pounds), they can be put into manual gear and then pushed. My friends have pushed my chair when my batteries have died. Police officers can surely do it, too.
If your immediate response to those with disabilities protesting the GOP’s health-care bill is “They’re overreacting; none of this will actually happen,” I urge you to consider otherwise. Hopefully, none of this does happen, but if it’s going to be stopped, it will be stopped by those demanding their voices to be heard. Much of the current support for people with disabilities, including making public transportation accessible by law, was secured by ADAPT and its strategy of civil disobedience.
Also consider that a lot of this stuff already is happening. Iowa’s privatized Medicaid is a disaster, with many of the managed-care organizations cutting hours of service. If your response to ADAPTers protesting is “They shouldn’t put themselves in harm’s way,” realize that our lives are already in danger from the proposed cuts. It doesn’t matter whom you voted for; issues such as these should be nonpartisan. We all have the power to stop this.