Letter writer gets it wrong on Barrett
U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett testifies during the third day of her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill Wednesday. Credit: TNS/Yuri Gripas
Robert Stack claims in a letter about Judge Amy Coney Barrett that "The disabled community believes she will uphold the rights of people with disabilities because she is the mother of a son with Down syndrome" ["Barrett can support the disabled," Oct. 12].
I’m not sure which people with disabilities he is speaking for, but the disability community, as a whole, seems to differ. The American Association for People With Disabilities recently stated, in seeking a National Call-in Day to make their voices heard by senators, that "at least 50 disability rights groups strongly oppose the nomination due to her direct hostility toward the Affordable Care Act and her record on many issues that affect people with disabilities."
Stack contends that having a son with a disability will make the judge more sympathetic to the needs of people with disabilities. Her son with Down syndrome was born in 2010. If his existence were going to help her understand the needs of people with disabilities, she may have voted differently on some issues by now.
Angela Melledy,
Bethpage
Editor’s note: The writer is founder and publisher of Able Newspaper, a publication for, by and about people with disabilities.
As a father of a developmentally disabled son who lives in a community residence, I am astonished by Robert Stack’s letter ["Barrett can support the disabled," Oct. 12].
The writer gives a glowing recommendation to Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, who was picked by President Donald Trump and is expected to do his bidding as his past nominees have done. And what are the president’s biddings? Since coming into office in 2017, Trump has done nothing but tried to cut funding to our disabled population. His cuts in Medicaid and similar programs are hurting the 26% of Americans who are disabled. Group homes such as the one my son lives in are struggling to keep afloat while Trump puts billions into border walls. My wife and I can see our son only once a month, and now that time is being lengthened. I remember the days of institutions such as Willowbrook in Staten Island being run like prisons. I am an eyewitness as I did 10 years of volunteer work in one of them. These cuts, if enacted, will lead us back to those days.
Gene Reynolds,
Ridge
