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Transcript from CNN Imparato interview
CROWLEY: Among those keeping a close eye on the legal debate in
the Schiavo case are people who work to protect the rights of the
disabled. Joining me to share his perspective is Andy Imparato, the
president and CEO of the American Association of People with
Disabilities. Thank you so much for being her here. What -- why do
people with disabilities and those who represent them feel so strongly
about this case? What's at the heart of it?
ANDY IMPARATO, CEO, AMERICAN ASSN. OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES:
First, let me thank you for bringing this perspective on your show, not
only am I the president of the American Association of People With
Disabilities, but I do have a disability, bipolar disorder. And you may
not see a lot of connection between what I go through and what Terri
Schiavo's situation brings up, but there are two core principles,
really, from a disability perspective, that I want to emphasize:
One is that life with a disability is worth living. It's not a
fate worst than death. And a lot of people in American culture still
think disability is a fate worse than death and we think that helps them
-- the people on the side to let Terri Schiavo die -- it helps them feel
okay with that. Part of that comfort is devaluing the life of a person
with a disability.
The other principle which is equally important is
self-determination. People with disabilities should be able to determine
for themselves what happens to them. That issue, the disability
community is split on in the context of this case. Some people feel
that Terri Schiavo should be able to determine for herself not to have
food and hydration. Other people feel she may have made that decision
in her early 20s, but she hasn't been given an opportunity to change her
mind.
Part of self-determination is the ability to change your mind if
your situation changes. A lot of people who are living with severe or
significant disabilities, after they've lived with the disability for a
few years, their perspective on their own condition changes dramatically
and they actually see their quality of life as much higher than they
might have imagined that it would have been before they acquired the
disability.
CROWLEY: But in this case, Terri Schiavo's unable to tell us, to
communicate in any way what her wishes might be. In that case, do you
believe that the husband's word that his wife, indeed, would not have
wanted to live like that is still not good enough?
IMPARATO: And again, I want to be clear that the disability
community, on that question you just asked, is split. I can tell you
what I personally believe, but I'm not speaking for the whole community.
From my perspective, we need safeguards for people in Terri Schiavo's
situation. Because we can't determine what her views are. If we accept
as fact that we cannot determine Terri's current views, we need
safeguards.
One of the things we're most concerned about is that not enough
effort was made to see if she can communicate what her current wishes
are. The husband has kept rehabilitation professionals, communication
therapists -- people who could try to determine if there is an ability
to communicate a desire here -- they've been kept away from her. She
hasn't got the occupational therapy, the kinds of services we would
expect somebody in her situation to get.
CROWLEY: To be perfectly blunt and honest and none of these
questions are all that pretty, is the fear here that there could be a
level of acceptance of this that would include people who will be denied
medical treatment who want it?
Isn't that fear, people will die that don't want to die?
IMPARATO: Absolutely. The fear here is there is a slippery slope
and when we start devaluing the lives of peoples with disabilities, we
don't know where that's going to stop. You also need to take into
account the financial implications of all of this. We have an economy
that is not doing as well as it once was and a lot of people are looking
at how can we save money. One way to save money is make it easier for
people with disabilities to die. We don't want to see that happen.
CROWLEY: Andy Imparato, we really appreciate your input and
following this case with you. Appreciate it.
IMPARATO: Thank you.
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