There is no excusing mother’s killing of disabled daughter
The story of Bonnie Liltz killing her disabled daughter is not uncommon ( Bonnie Liltz and her disabled daughter — we failed them both, Nov. 27). According to the Autistic Self Advocacy Network website, “In the past five years, over 400 people with disabilities have been murdered by their parents, relatives or caregivers.” The victims of the murders are often portrayed as burdens. The Sun- Times editorial counters that portrayal, writing, “to excuse the taking of Courtney’s life as a kind of ‘ mercy killing,’ as many of Liltz’s defenders have done, is to suggest that a severely disabled person has a lesser human value.” We must all reject the message of better off dead than disabled. We must press our elected officials to expand and improve services that support people with disabilities in homes instead of institutions. There is no excuse for the crime Bonnie Liltz committed. In the future, fewer people will make the same decision if we create quality options for the disabled, and if we stop finding ways to justify the killing of disabled people. Horacio Esparza Executive Director, Progress Center for Independent Living, Board member of Not Dead Yet
Democrats are undemocratic
On Thursday, the Sun- Times editorial board opined that passage of a tax cut by Congress will be “undemocratic,” even though it’s Congress’ job to pass bills, and despite the fact that the Republicans ran on a platform of passing tax cuts to increase employment and wages.
To maintain this view, the writers made the ludicrous claim that passage of the unread Affordable Care Act, in the middle of the night, along party lines, based on false assurances about people keeping their doctors and lowering costs, somehow reflected a better process than that now used by Congress. The Democrats completely ignored Paul Ryan’s input on the health bill and refuse to cooperate in shaping the tax cut bill.
If the editorial board wants an example of real undemocratic behavior in contemporary politics, it should look to the Democrat “resistance” against the Trump administration. This resistance amounts to a slow motion coup, attempting to nullify the election, first through an appeal to faithless electors, then to the emoluments clause and, finally, to a Russia conspiracy theory for which, a year after the election, there is still no evidence.
Richard Crane, Lincoln Park