The good news: scientists have found a genetic variant that may be associated with autism. The bad news: good science can be used for very bad things, as Ari Ne’e-man, who has Asperger Syndrome, explains in this Newsweek interview (h/t Mary Meets Dolly): But the new genetic advances concern Ne’eman…His ultimate fear is this: a prenatal test for autism, leading … Read More
Choice and Disability
As a disabled person myself I can totally relate to much of what is said in this article from The F-Word: Contemporary UK Feminism: Who has the privilege of deciding what constitutes a “serious handicap”? Not disabled people, that’s for sure. It’s no wonder that our voices are excluded from the abortion debate when the right to define disability is … Read More
Gianna Jessen’s Australian Manifesto
“I didn’t survive so I could make everyone comfortable. I survived so I could stir things up a bit. And I have a great time doing it.” Here, in two parts, is a wonderful speech from abortion survivor Gianna Jessen last year at Queen’s Hall, Parliament House, Victoria. Australia – on the eve of the debate to decriminalize abortion in … Read More
There’s No Substitute for the Truth
As much as it feels like it sometimes, I’m not the only one with a disability/disease who oposes the use of nascent human life for scientific research. MSNBC reports on a man with ALS with just such a principle. ALS is a terrible, terrible disease and Mr. Jim McKevitt is in its advanced stages. Says his wife, “He’s losing ground. … Read More
Another Amazing ASC-SCI Success!
Thanks to Rebecca Taylor for finding this story – which I’m sure has not been picked up by many other media outlets, if any. DaVinci Biosciences, in collaboration with Luis Vernaza Hospital in Ecuador, this week had the results of its study demonstrating the safety and feasibility of its acute and chronic spinal cord injury treatment published in an issue … Read More
Meet Patrick Thibodeau
Every pregnant woman who gets a positive prenatal diagnosis for Down syndrome should see this video (h/t: Jay): Embedded video from CNN Video Despite the headway we’ve made in trying to accommodate the needs of disabled persons in the world so that they too can have a place in the community and enjoy many of the same opportunities as others … Read More
The Life of the Sufferer Must be Affirmed
In a post that I linked to a few weeks ago, Wesley Smith mentions a man he knew who was dying from ALS who, after years of depression and suicidal thoughts, eventually came out of his despair and learned to embrace his physically challenging life. According to Smith, who was one of his hospice caregivers, this transformation was the result … Read More
Suicide for Everyone – On Demand!
God love Wesley Smith for keeping up with our suicide obsessed world these days. It’s a dirty job, but somebody’s got to do it…I guess. It’s getting a little ridiculous. A few highlights, though not particularly high, in no particular order: –British TV aired a documentary on one man’s journey to Switzerland for an assisted suicide. The doc apparently included … Read More
Margaret Sanger, One of the “Women of Our Time”
American Life League reports on Margaret Sanger, who is being honored in the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery’s Women of our Time exhibit:
Richardson Family Reconciles to Care for Lauren!
I forgot to post this great news when it came out a few weeks ago! Lauren Richardson’s mother, Edith Towers, has withdrawn her request to have her disabled daughter’s feeding tube removed. Lauren suffered a serious brain injury after a heroin overdose in 2006. Towers had a change of heart after Lauren began to cry when she was with her … Read More