Welcome back to the What's The Matter With Me? Podcast.
Day 42 of Covid-19 Coronavirus quarantine finds me thinking about the value of disabled life.
What is the Principle of Non discrimination?
The principle of non-discrimination seeks “to guarantee that human rights are exercised without discrimination of any kind based on race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status such as disability, age, marital and family status, sexual orientation and gender identity, health status, place of residence, economic and social situation”.Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No. 20, Non-discrimination in economic, social and cultural rights; 2009.
Do disabled people deserve assistance even though they may require more resources than the 'average patient?'
(When too many patients are in urgent need at the same time), some are proposing to send the disabled to the back of the line. States across the country are looking to their Crisis Standards of Care plans — documents that explain how medical care changes amid the shortages of an unprecedented catastrophe. While each is different, many have a concerning common attribute: When there isn’t enough lifesaving care to go around, those who need more than others may be in trouble.Ari Ne'eman, 'I Will Not Apologize For My Needs,' New York Times, March 23, 2020.
Begin Transcript
JOHN HOPPIN: Yes! You are tuned into the What's The Matter With Me? Podcast. My name is John, I'm 40 years old, I have MS (multiple sclerosis), I'm a father and husband, small business owner, radio DJ, podcaster. Right now I'm 40 days into this coronavirus quarantine, on week five at school. Anyhow, it just feels like we're inside forever. I think you all know what I'm talking about, so I've wanted to get in touch. I have had some stuff on my mind.
First, I want to bring in this idea of the principle of non-discrimination. It's defined by the World Health Organization as, the principle of non-discrimination seeks to guaranteed that human rights are exercised without discrimination of any kind based on race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, such as disability, age, marital and family status, sexual orientation, gender identity, the health status, place of residence, economic and social situation. That was defined by the Committee on Economic, Social, Cultural rights in 2009.
This whole outbreak is going on, and it's made me think about the value of disabled life. First, that a disabled life is worth living. I think it's obvious my life rules and it's worth living. I mean it's my life, you can't take it from me. So why think about this stuff? Well, I've read this article called, I Will Not Apologize For My Needs, by Ari Ne’eman, in the New York Times of March 23rd 2020. He writes:
Times of crisis ask us who we are as a country. As hospitals prepare for shortages in ventilators and other scarce medical resources, many people with disabilities are worried about the answer to that question. In Italy, doctors are already rationing access to care on the basis of age and disability. The Washington Post reports that many states are considering how to implement similar rationing measures here. Though almost everyone would agree doctors may deny care that is unlikely to benefit a patient, there may soon be too many patients in urgent need of lifesaving treatment and too few resources to treat them all. When that happens, some are proposing to send the disabled to the back of the line. States across the country are looking to their Crisis Standards of Care plans — documents that explain how medical care changes amid the shortages of an unprecedented catastrophe. While each is different, many have a concerning common attribute: When there isn’t enough lifesaving care to go around,