The Coronavirus Pandemic Is Settling Some Old Arguments About Ableism

A long-time, low-grade worry for people with disabilities has become a red alert in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Most disabled people at one time or another worry that we and our so-called “special needs” will be seen as too much trouble, too much of a burden, or too difficult a problem to be worth the effort.

It’s the kind of worry where every time you express it, people passionately deny it. And if you repeat your concern, they even get a bit angry at you because obviously you are just looking for something to be worried and angry about.

What’s wrong with you? Do you seriously think we don’t care about you, that we want you out of the way or dead? Is your self-esteem really that low? Are you paranoid? Or is it all just a rhetorical stance meant to further some kind of political agenda?

Now we are faced with the very real possibility that disabled and chronically ill people will be intentionally passed over for medical care, and allowed to die of COVID-19 precisely...