The Boston Globe has a great article on why the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities failed to pass the US Senate this past December. Traditionally, disability issues have always been bipartisan. For example, former Senator Bob Dole, one of the disability movement's leaders, helped to push through the Americans with Disabilities Act (the ADA) under President George H. W. Bush with significant bipartisan support.
Unfortunately, the issue has now become a divisive issue in today's acrimonious political environment. Despite what seemed to be a sure bet, ratification of the international treaty failed by five votes. Only eight Republicans voted for it.
Here's the Boston Globe article. For someone like me who is rather new to the disability movement, it also offers a thoughtful overview of the politics that surround disability issues.
Within the MS community, I know there are Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. We put our political viewpoints aside in order to focus on what's best for people with MS. What can we do to make disability rights a bipartisan issue again?
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