>> ANITA CAMERON: Okay, so.
Some of y'all know that my day job is Director of Minority Outreach for Not Dead Yet.
Okay, Not Dead Yet Is a disability rights organization, premier organization, sistering
with ADAPT, that fights against doctor-assisted suicide and euthanasia of people with disabilities.
And next, we have our board member, our board officer Shonda McLaughlin, to say some words
for Not Dead Yet.
[Cheers] >> SHONDA MCLAUGHLIN: First, thank you all
for allowing me to be here today.
It's an honor to be in solidarity here with ADAPT, and especially on behalf of Not Dead
Yet.
[Cheers] Thank you Miss Anita Cameron.
I appreciate everything you are trying to teach me.
Thank you.
I would like to share something personal with you all, about me.
As a teenager, I missed attending a significant part of my sophomore and all of my junior
year of high school.
It was a time of my life where I couldn't do anything for myself.
Leave the house, dress, sit up, speak, bathe, basic things that we all take for granted.
Some thought I was a burden to society, and my family specifically.
Because many are so at ease to write off and devalue the lives of people with disabilities
like mine, suicide is perpetuated as a viable option for the disabled, as opposed to them
exercising their civil rights.
Particularly those from certain communities.
For example, non-disabled who express [a desire for] suicide would be offered prevention services,
while their [disabled] counterparts will be assisted with suicide.
Plus, Black people, brown people, and the elderly are disproportionately impacted.
Still, I somehow believed that I was going to college regardless of my circumstances.
Meaning, everyone was telling me I couldn't go to college.
Why?
Stealing from advocacy efforts from parents, children with disabilities, legislation like
Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act made it possible for me to
attend college.
Most important, however, the vocational rehabilitation program afforded me the opportunity to temporarily
have a personal care attendant, which made it possible for me to choose to participate
in some aspects of my collegiate life.
Since that time, however, I've done other things and I went on to earn my PhD.
[Cheers] Thank you.
[Laughs] Sometimes I go back and say "Nah nah nah nah nah" to those who said I couldn't
do it.
Maybe I didn't say that.
The Disability Integration Act is comprehensive and it ensures full integration of people
with disabilities.
Eligible persons would have access to long-term support services, and a federal right in choosing
how they receive those services.
So Not Dead Yet and ADAPT advocate for policies that promote Life and Liberty for persons
with all disabilities.
Thank you ADAPT for your promotion of the Disability Integration Act.
Not Dead Yet stands firmly in solidarity with you as this Act will give people with disabilities
and the elderly the civil right to receive the attendant services and other support at
home, assisting people to live, not die.
Access to services at home must be available to those who need it.
Not suicide.
Life and liberty.
[Cheers] >> CAMERON: All right, thank you, Shonda.
Thank you so much and for Not Dead Yet's support.
Before I call on our next speaker, okay, I'm gonna go Anita here for a second.
I am going to call on the House to pass the Disability Integration Act by July 26, 2019!
[Cheers] >> CAMERON: We can pass this bill!
Okay, there is support for this bill.
Don't be afraid of this bill.
This is civil rights.
Pass the Disability Integration Act by July 26, 2019.
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