Ted Kennedy: Pro-choice and pro-disability rights
Earlier this week, conservative New York Times columnist Ross Douthat remembered Ted Kennedy by lamenting his support for reproductive rights. Douthat contrasted what he considers a sad lapse to the legacy of Ted's sister Eunice Shriver, who also died last month, and who was known both for her opposition to abortion rights and her work on behalf of disability rights.
In the insightful words of The American Prospect editor Dana Goldstein, Douthat opined that "Ted was a Bad Kennedy and a Bad Catholic because he was pro-choice; Eunice was a Good Kennedy and a Good Catholic because the cause of her life was disability rights, and she supported anti-abortion rights organizations."
As Goldstein notes, Senator Kennedy was himself a strong voice for disability rights. In fact, the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund honored him at their recent 30th anniversary benefit, a "tribute to his vision, leadership and dedication to the disability rights cause" that happened to take place just one day after his death.
In 2008, Kennedy co-sponsored - with Republican Sam Brownback - the Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act, which provided funding for programs that link expectant and new parents who receive a Down syndrome diagnosis with families raising a child with Down. Goldstein says:
Only Ted Kennedy could bring NARAL to the table with Sam Brownback. And that's because he knew, in his heart, that there was no contradiction between being deeply pro-choice and deeply pro-disability rights.
HT to Jessica Lehman of Generations Ahead.
Previously on Biopolitical Times: