For people with disabilities, health care essential “J

udge Barrett’s record demonstrates a hostility to rights that are critically important to people with disabilities.” This statement is from a letter sent to the Senate by more than 50 disability advocacy groups, including the American Association of People with Disabilities, the Association of University Centers on Disabilities, the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law and the National Council on Independent Living, among others.

These groups are calling on senators to reject Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination because of her record in cases relevant to disability rights. She would gut the Affordable Care Act, which is crucial for people with disabilities: It protects those with preexisting conditions, requires coverage of mental health and habilitation services, has increased home- and community-based services options, and more. She ruled as nondiscriminatory a program in Wisconsin that allowed students with special needs to be excluded from spots in school districts because of those needs. Republicans are trying to rush the confirmation process with unprecedented speed, in a blatant exercise of raw power, just as they did in refusing to take up President Barack Obama’s nomination of an eminently qualified jurist. They are doing this instead of passing relief legislation that actually would save the lives and livelihoods of those with and without disabilities.

Katrin Smithback Santa Fe