New US Law Supports Parents of Children with Disabilities
A bipartisan bill that both houses of Congress passed overwhelmingly and President Bush signed into law on October 8 will provide comprehensive information and support to pregnant women and new mothers whose fetus or newborn is diagnosed with a disability.
The Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act was authored by Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS). Though he is a staunch opponent of abortion rights, there is no anti-choice language in the Act. One of the bill's co-sponsors is Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), a strong abortion rights supporter.
An information sheet [PDF] on the Act has been released by CGS's sister organization Generations Ahead, together with World Institute on Disability, National Women's Health Network, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, and Reproductive Health Technologies Project.
The information sheet:
- outlines what the Act will do and how it can be implemented effectively
- acknowledges the disability community's longstanding concern that "pregnant women receive negatively biased information about what it means to have a child with a disability, shaped by negative societal attitudes toward disability"
- affirms the shared interest of disability advocacy groups and reproductive rights and justice organizations "in pregnant women receiving unbiased, nondirective information about prenatal genetic conditions" and
- asserts that the Act will benefit the disability community while expanding women's reproductive options.