Terri Schiavo: A Disability Rights Case

ABSTRACT

The author argues that Terri Schiavo was a “person with a disability” who faced disability discrimination, a view that is consistent with national disability rights groups. The author notes that Schiavo was not “terminally ill” and that feeding tubes should not be considered “medical equipment.” The belief that people with severe disabilities want to die is questioned, since many people who acquire severe disabilities change their minds about suicide, and implications for advance directives are explored. Finally, the author notes that although Terri Schiavo was a disabled woman, women's groups did not take up her cause.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mary Johnson

Mary Johnson has covered disability rights issues in the U.S. as founder and editor of The Disability Rag magazine in 1980 (which became Ragged Edge magazine in 1997). She currently serves as editor of Ragged Edge Magazine Online