This is outrageous!

Post Reply New Topic

While browsing articles on disability rights, I came across THIS ABSOLUTELY APPALLING ARTICLE about a mother of a 26-year-old disabled man who tried to keep him from voting in the last election. Thankfully she did not get her way and her son has allowed to vote in accordance with voting rights laws. Now she wants a law passed that would restrict the voting rights of the disabled, requiring them to have their parent's permission and supervision to vote.

I'm sure we can agree this is just another attempt to deny disabled people their most basic freedoms, and should be fiercely opposed. No matter what your political affiliation is or who you voted for, this would seriously undermine the very freedoms so many fought and died to protect. I just can't believe the complete audacity of this woman. Who does she think she is to deny anyone their rights entitled to them as ADULTS!?! She definitely appears to be the type of parent who is very controlling, even though her son is of legal age and should be allowed to do as he pleases, just as a non-disabled person would.

And one more thing, I can't honestly believe this has not at least been partly motivated by the fact that her son was voting for the "wrong" candidate, but I digress.

Last edited by fbug on 06 Dec 2008, 10:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Yes, its shocking isn't it, Shiggily? I just can't believe anyone would find it to be the least bit acceptable to deny anyone their civil rights like this. It would be no different from when women and "colored" people were not allowed to vote. This can not be tolerated since it would have a profound effect on anyone who is declared to be disabled. This evil witch should have a restraining order against her to protect her son's rights, since she has no respect for them at all.

Last edited by fbug on 06 Dec 2008, 9:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Wow...that's all I can manage to say about this.

that is what legal parental separation is for.

Yeah, like that's gonna pass. I hope she gets back to us on how that went..

That is so true. However, this woman has retained guardianship over her son's legal and personal affairs. Yes, it is an absolutely disgusting abuse of the system in this case. Retention of guardianship should only be granted in extreme cases, and even then be subject to immediate revocation when there is a conflict of interest such as this since this was not a decision made in this man's best interest. I mean this person has cerebral palsy, which is a physical disability, not a mental one, although many "mentally disabled" people are also capable of making their own decisions. Not to mention that many "normal" people make "dumb" decisions at least as much, if not more than many "disabled" people.

I know how outrageous it is that parents are able to abuse the system and wrongfully exert control over their adult offspring, in direct violation of the rights they're supposed to acquire when they become of legal age. I myself was a victim of such abuse during my late teens/early twenties, although it was not quite this bad (my mother continued to make what should have been MY decisions after I turned 18, although she did not actually retain guardianship; she just knew how to manipulate and abuse the system against me.) This is why anyone identified as disabled needs to have legal representation to protect their legal rights as adults. Just because someone is your parent does not mean he or she knows or cares what is right for you, or what your capabilities are. A disabled adult is still an adult.

Last edited by fbug on 07 Dec 2008, 12:20 am, edited 2 times in total.

Absolutely. I guess she's not very familiar with the Constitution, especially the 14th amendment (equal protection), and also possibly the Voting Rights Act.

And she has the nerve to think disabled people like her son are too "stupid" to vote?

It's clearly obvious to me that many non-disabled people are too stupid to vote as well.

agreed and why I am against embryonic testing for disabilities as a means to allow parents to abort differently-abled fetuses and start over.

LOL, no kidding!

if he voted for McCain she wouldn't have had a problem, she's just one of these stuck up types that would use their child's disability to get them further in life.

if he's so 'easily influenced' as she stated in the article how come he voted against her? maybe, just maybe he's smart enough to vote independantly?

Yes, as I said this was almost certainly because that woman had a problem with her son being allowed to vote for whoever he wanted just like anyone else, instead of him voting the way she wanted him to vote.

That having been said, It really doesn't matter to me who he was voting for so much as the fact that someone had the audacity to claim that any legal adult should have such an important freedom restricted if not outright denied. That poses a serious threat to anyone viewed as being disabled or incapable in any way, including myself. This was the one of the same tactics used to oppress women and ethnic minorities in the past.

Are there links to any follow-ups to the original article?

That's old-fashioned and dumb.

i've been told i can't do things i want to because of my conditions, but from my point of view anyone with a disability should have the same rights as someone without. i often see groups of people with different handicaps walking through town and think it's not the best thing to do as people (usually chavs and kids who don't know better) mock them, but if they're able to walk around they might feel more 'normal'. the right to vote is the same, even if the son didn't understand everything about polotics someone should have explained it to him and still let him vote, it might be the smallest piece of normality but it could make a huge difference to his peace of mind.