(for ADAPT's Spring 2010 action)
It’s no secret that state budgets are coming up short all over the nation, but what many members of the general public do not know or are choosing to ignore is that many states are putting an unfair bulk of budget cuts on the shoulders of people who should not have to bear that load – people with physical and mental disabilities. If the proposed cuts to health and social services in Kansas go through, the lives and freedom of nearly 1900 physically disabled alone will be in jeopardy. These are the people waiting to receive in-home services via the Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) program, but the proposed budget cuts in Kansas will force many, if not all, of them into nursing/group homes where they will have no input into many aspects of their own lives. What the legislators are choosing to ignore is that care in nursing/group homes will cost the state 2-3 times more than providing in-home care. They are also ignoring the fact that the majority of Kansans – including those receiving or wanting to receive services – are willing to pay revenue enhancements in the form of a one cent increase in the state sales tax and increased taxation of tobacco, alcohol, and soda in order to make up the budget deficit.
Please allow me to address the legislators directly.
Just for a moment, I’d like for you to imagine our roles were reversed. Imagine yourself in a wheelchair – unable to cook your own meals, unable to get yourself in and out of bed, unable to use the bathroom without assistance. Would you wish to live in a nursing home where every moment of every day of your life is decided for you, from when to get up to what you will eat to what activities you can participate in? Would you want to only be able to leave the facility for medical appointments unless your family came to get you? How often do you think you realistically would see your family? How often could they fit a visit to you into their busy schedules?
Or would you want to live freely in your own home where you can sleep in if you want to or have pumpkin pie for breakfast or wheel yourself to the library for a book or to the store for a soda? Would you like to take accessible public transportation to a movie or a restaurant or grocery shopping? Do you think you might see your family more in your own home?
It all boils down to this: do you want someone to run your life for you, or do you want to freely and independently do everything your heart desires?
I’m willing to bet you’d choose the latter. Now imagine you are facing these budget cuts, and I am your legislator. What would you say to me? Would you want to go on with the current day politics as usual, where each person, politician and non-politician alike, thinks only about number one and everyone else be damned? Or would you hope I can see beyond that status quo, that I can envision a world where people take care of each other? Wouldn’t you be willing to pay one more cent on the state sales tax if it meant you could sleep comfortably in your own bed with your husband or wife next to you? Wouldn’t you be willing to pay a few more pennies for a soda if it meant you could keep your job and remain a contributing member of your community? Wouldn’t it be worth paying a little extra on your cigarettes if you could play everyday with your children or help them with their homework in your own home?
I am more than willing to pay a little extra on my purchases so that I and nearly 1900 others in my same situation can live in our own homes and still have our most basic needs met. I don’t want to live helplessly in a nursing home. I want to finish my Ph.D. and get a job at a university, maybe even right here in Kansas. I want to continue being a contributing member of my community, and I want to help my fellow human beings whenever she or he has a need.
This issue isn’t about Republicans, Democrats, conservatives, liberals, tea parties, or coffee klatches. This is about humanity. This is about empathy. This is about doing unto others as you would have done unto you. It’s time we as citizens realize we are part of something larger than ourselves, that in order for our society at large to function in the healthiest possible manner that EVERY part must be healthy and happy. It’s FAR past time for the disabled, the elderly, the ill, and the abused to be treated with equal consideration, respect, and dignity rather than as society’s trash.
Read more blogswarm at ADAPT Blogswarm, Spring Action 2010 hosted by Nick's Crusade.
