Stop weaponizing my disability and disabled people for your pro-life bullshit :)

Apologies for the swearing-but Jesus, I have a LOT to say.

While I am thankful to live in Illinois, which for the most part, has confirmed that abortion will stay legal regardless, I am still extremely terrified that Roe v. Wade will ultimately be overturned. To be clear, I am emphatically pro-choice. If a woman or person with a uterus is raped, if they do not know the father or have a good relationship with him, if they don't have the means to care for a child, if having a baby would endanger their health, if they didn't intend to have a baby, if they have an unstable home life, if they just aren't ready, period, then then deserve the CHOICE of an abortion. NOBODY is saying that they HAVE to get one, they just deserve the CHOICE of termination, or keeping it or raising it as their own, or giving it up for adoption or foster care, and it's certainly not any of my business to tell someone to get an abortion should they have an unplanned pregnancy, regardless of how well I know them. And I think it's very ironic how so many "pro-lifers" will claim they're "saving the babies" when recently, two hundred Republicans voted against a bill that would help the current baby formula shortage crisis in America, when so many pro-lifers aren't even vaccinated, when so many had no problem with turning a blind eye to the Sandy Hook and Parkland shootings, along with the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and the countless other BIPOC lives that still continue to be lost to police brutality, the recent Buffalo and Uvalde shootings, and the multiple hate crimes against Asians since the start of the COVID pandemic.

However, many pro-lifers argue that disability selective abortion is a reason we should all be pro-life; as you can infer, that's when someone terminates their child, all because pre-natal testing demonstrates that they have a high chance of being disabled-be it Downs Syndrome, autism, multiple sclerosis, etc. There's a strong use of ethos and pathos going on here-why would we abort a fetus just because of its differences, whether it's an extra chromosome, a brain defect, or anything else? We're supposedly "the tolerant and loving left"-don't we love diversity and celebrating and uplifting diverse voices and stories? And who are we to call out and criticize Donald Trump for mocking a disabled reporter, but at the same time, having no issue with abortion even if the reason for the abortion is that the baby would have been disabled? Well, maybe I don’t have all the answers (and who does??), but let me tell you one thing: that argument is absolute bullshit.

Let me hit you with some logos: conservatives say that we shouldn't abort it if it's discovered it's going to be or has a high chance of being autistic-yet Candace Owens, a conservative commentator, claims that a consequence of being vaccinated is the "severe autism rates [that] keep climbing each year in the U.S. (Owens, 2021)" They claim to be the "party of life", but in 2011, senate Republicans in New Jersey blocked a bi-partisan bill that would extend critical programs for autistic children and their families (Menendez, 2011), and during the pandemic, the Senate Republicans in D.C. introduced the HEALS Act-an act that essentially erases all the progress and rights guaranteed under the Americans with Disabilities Act, or the ADA (Duckworth 2020). They claim we need to "protect all life", but it was a judge appointed by Trump himself who gave the green light for autistic students at the Judge Rotenberg Center to still be electrically shocked as punishment (shoutout to my friend Ted for that information). A recent study even found that people who have an autism diagnosis or autism traits are more likely to be transgender than the general population (Sarris 2020)-the same people that so many conservatives view as second-class citizens and have no issue with passing laws that support that small-minded belief. Not to mention how SO many of these people-from Tomi Lahren to Ben Shapiro to Michael Knowles to conservatives on every major social media outlet-had no issue with criticizing and mocking Greta Thunberg when she first gained attention for not only being an environmental activist, but an autistic environmental activist (go Greta!!), and Michael Knowles called her "mentally ill" (keep in mind, Michael was twenty-nine when this happened-and Greta was sixteen) Not to mention, conservatives LOVE to tout the argument "facts don't care about your feelings"-were those not just all facts, APA citations not included??

While I'm somewhat certain at least half of you reading this mostly or at least somewhat agree with me (and if this post challenged your initial beliefs, I really appreciate it!), and share the same political beliefs and values as I do, I know that there's someone out there reading this, neurotypical or neurodiverse, probably thinking something along the lines of "wow, this post and/or OP is so wrong/stupid/r*tarded." And truly? I'm not upset. I'll admit, back in my early days, I was a bit of a self-righteous keyboard warrior that had no problem getting in essentially a screaming match and TYPING IN ALL CAPS LIKE THIS with some troll who said something homophobic, racist, sexist, transphobic, or ableist on some public forum, and though I have learned it does no benefit to me to scream back at or even respond those people, online or in real life-I do have one final response for those aforementioned people:

Even if you aren't thinking any negative thoughts towards me, my beliefs, or this post, I'm also aware you could be thinking of all sorts of counterpoints: "but it has a heartbeat!", or "a disabled child should never be a burden!", or, probably the most common: "what if your mom aborted you?" Well, there's the key word-"should never." But, how can it be a should never, when one in three disabled adults don't have a healthcare provider (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020)? How can it be a should never when autistic teens and young adults are 3.19 times more likely to commit suicide than the neurotypical teen and young adult (Klinepeter, 2021)? How can it be a should never when if I get married, I lose my disabilty benefits? How can it be a should never when as of 2018, eighty-five percent of autistic college graduates with autism were unemployed (Autism Society of Greater Cincinnati, 2021)? Moreover, how could I ever be upset at my mother for aborting me, if first off, I wouldn't have known, but also, if we live in a society that seems to have no issue with putting autistic and disabled people last, despite all the months and days dedicated to us, when just like that, when the month or day is over, we're conveniently forgotten about and discarded?

Simply put: autistic (and diabled folks in general) people and our existence are not your political pawns, especially when you continue to ignore the many ways the systems, here in America and worldwide, have failed us. Period.

Alt text: my sign from an abortion rally a while back, which says "Keep abortion safe and legal. My body, my choice."

References:

Autism Society of Greater Cincinnati. (2022). Autism Facts & Statistics. https://www.autismcincy.org/autism-facts-statistics/

Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2020). Disability Impacts All of Us. https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/infographic-disability-impacts-all.html#:~:text=61%20million%20adults%20in%20the,have%20some%20type%20of%20disability.

Duckworth, Tammy (2020). Republicans gut Americans with Disabilities Act in coronavirus relief bill. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2020/08/20/tammy-duckworth-disabilities-ada-coronavirus-republicans-column/3400566001/

Klinepeter, Elizabeth (2021). Teens, young adults with ASD three times more likely to attempt suicide. https://www.healio.com/news/primary-care/20210212/teens-young-adults-with-asd-three-times-more-likely-to-attempt-suicide

Menendez, Bob (2011). Menendez Calls On Senate GOP Members to Stop Blocking Bi-Partisan Autism Bill. https://www.menendez.senate.gov/newsroom/in-the-news/menendez-calls-on-senate-gop-members-to-stop-blocking-bi-partisan-autism-bill

Owens, Candace. [@RealCandaceO]. (2021, August 25). Separately, we’re given no answer for why severe autism rates keep climbing every year in the U.S. [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/RealCandaceO/status/1430570585516560385?s=20&t=peiFGFTdNhqsbjvK3lkjfQ

Sarris, Marina (2020). Autistic People More Likely to Identify as LGBTQ. https://sparkforautism.org/discover_article/autism-lgbtq-identity/