CW: Sterilization
Yesterday was the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, a day to acknowledge the world’s largest minority and the challenges they face. The disability community is all too familiar with having to fight for our rights.
Because she was “feeble-minded,” Carrie Buck was kept in a state mental hospital. Through three generations of her family, her condition had been passed down.
A Virginia law permitted the forced sterilization of hospital patients in order to improve the “health of the patient and the welfare of society.” On May 2, 1927, the Court agreed that Buck, her mother, and her daughter were “promiscuous” and “feeble-minded,” declaring 8-1 that it was in the best interests of the state to have Buck sterilized. State law shows that approximately 8,300 sterilizations were performed between 1927 and 1972. Buck lived a full life after leaving the institution, despite her diagnosis, until her death in 1983.
Buck v. Bell was never deemed unconstitutional. Today, 31 states still allow disabled women to be forcibly sterilized. Buck v. Bell’s logic has been considerably undermined by further case law and a growing recognition of the need for procedural safeguards to protect the rights of those involved.
In recent years, the U.S has come a long way in recent years in the fight for marriage equality. The United States Supreme Court determined 2015 that same-sex marriage is a fundamental right.
However, many disabled people who rely on programs like Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) are still unable to marry. I am one of them. People’s benefits can be reduced or eliminated.
Many disabled people are under guardianship. Often, they cannot vote. According to federal survey data collected from 33 states by the Election Assistance Commission, over 7,300 people lost their ability to vote due to “mental incompetence” between 2012 and 2014.
Ten states automatically prohibit anyone who has been deemed intellectually disabled from voting. Missouri is one of them, having limited more voters than any other state, rescinding the rights of over 2,000 people due to intellectual disabilities.
It’s often difficult for disabled people to find work. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found that 21.3 percent of disabled people were employed last year, up from 19.1 percent in 2021. However, the unemployment rate for disabled people is still triple that of non-disabled people.
Many disabled people who are employed are paid less than the federal minimum wage. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data from January showed that the number of disabled people being paid less than the federal minimum wage had dropped below 43,000.
The average hourly wage for individuals employed in these settings is $3.34. The practice of paying disabled workers subminimum wage legal is because certain people with disabilities have been allowed to be paid less than the minimum wage according to U.S. labor law since 1938. This law was enacted during the Great Depression to encourage more individuals to seek employment.
Despite the progress made during the last several decades, we still have a long way to go in the fight for equality for disabled people worldwide. Future generations of disabled people deserve the opportunities previous generations have gone without.
Sources:
Antonios, Nathalie, and Christina Raup. “Buck v. Bell (1927).” The Embryo Project Encyclopedia, Arizona State University, 1 Jan. 2012, embryo.asu.edu/pages/buck-v-bell-1927.
Ceron, Ella. “Remote Work Helps Push Disabled Employment to a Record High of 21%. but the Gain Is Imperiled by Return to the Office Mandates.” Fortune, Fortune Media Group Holdings, 25 Feb. 2023, https://fortune.com/2023/02/24/remote-work-disabled-employment-record-high-remote-work-office-mandates/.
Caprino, Kathy. “The World’s Largest Minority Might Surprise You, And How We Can Better Serve Them.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 14 Apr. 2016, http://www.forbes.com/sites/kathycaprino/2016/04/14/the-worlds-largest-minority-might-surprise-you-and-how-we-can-better-serve-them/?sh=737aa3ca496f.
“Forced Sterilization of Disabled People in the United States.” National Women’s Law Center, 24 Jan. 2022, nwlc.org/resource/forced-sterilization-of-disabled-people-in-the-united-states/.
Fong, Sabrina. “Why the Movements for Voting Rights and Disability Rights Are Strongest Together.” Ford Foundation, Ford Foundation, 25 May 2022, https://www.fordfoundation.org/news-and-stories/stories/posts/why-the-movements-for-voting-rights-and-disability-rights-are-strongest-together/.
“International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2023.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization, 3 Dec. 2023, http://www.who.int/campaigns/international-day-of-persons-with-disabilities/2023.
Liptak, Adam. “Supreme Court Ruling Makes Same-Sex Marriage a Right Nationwide.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 26 June 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/27/us/supreme-court-same-sex-marriage.html.
Lagorce, Tammy. “For Disabled Couples, a Plea for Marriage Equality.” The New York Times, The New York Times Company, 15 Sept. 2023, http://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/15/fashion/weddings/disabled-couples-marriage-equality-rally.html.
Selyukh, Alina. “Workers with Disabilities Can Earn JUST $3.34 an HOUR. Agency Says Law Needs Change.” NPR, NPR, 17 Sept. 2020, http://www.npr.org/2020/09/17/912840482/u-s-agency-urges-end-to-below-minimum-wage-for-workers-with-disabilities.
Walter, Shoshana. “Disabled and Disenfranchised: Families Fight to Restore Voting Rights.” Reveal, The Center for Investigative Reporting, 30 June 2021, https://revealnews.org/article/disabled-and-disenfranchised-families-fight-to-restore-voting-rights/.
Williams, Tayrn M. “Examining 50 Years of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973- Advancing Access and Equity for Individuals with Disabilities.” The United States Department of Labor Blog, The United States Department of Labor, 28 Sept. 2023, blog.dol.gov/2023/09/28/examining-50-years-of-the-rehabilitation-act-of-1973-advancing-access-and-equity-for-individuals-with-disabilities.