[NABS-L] Federation Philosophy and Reproductive Rights

Tue Mar 2 21:29:52 UTC 2021

Hello Blind Allday,

I'm not sure who you are, but it's good to meet you. It kind of reminds me of how, growing up in a small town where everyone knows everyone, we would often wonder who it was in the Santa suit or dressed up at the haunted house. 

I don't exactly know how someone would try "to be controversial but at the same time not be controversial." 

I think it's great that the Royal National Institute for the Blind is working on an accessible pregnancy test. I am really coming to appreciate the job they've done with the Pen Friend 3. I wonder if mainstream testing technology can be made available and affordable in a way that gives a clear, unambiguous result that is also nonvisually accessible. It may help everyone, not just the blind. 

Since I'm not sure if you live in the US, I figure it might help to give the context that there are already programs to help give reproductive healthcare to low-income people. A big one here is called Planned Parenthood. We could work to help make sure that these services are accessible to the blind, especially since many of us are low income. 

One common idea in NFB philosophy, so far as I understand it, is that it is counterproductive to have special discounts for the blind for services that everyone may access. For example: transit fares. In the US, you can often find some kind of discounted fare on a bus or train if you have a disability, but even someone as wealthy as Jim Givens, a blind guy who happens to be CEO of Goodwill Industries International, a very wealthy conglomerate of subminimum wage sheltered workshops, can go to an Amtrak (train) counter and get a discounted fare just because he is blind. I doubt he takes Amtrak because he makes so much money as the Goodwill CEO, but he could. The system is not set up for poor people to be able to get a discounted Amtrak fare; it is about blindness. This kind of program can contribute to a perpetuation of negative attitudes about blindness. This kind of logic, in my opinion, would likely be applied to any kind of healthcare to basically say that blind people shouldn't be given a special blind discount for healthcare, but if there are healthcare programs for low income people, those should be equally accessible for us.

The NFB has also spoken up about taking away the waiting period for folks approved for disability benefits through the Social Security Administration to get their first checks and to get their healthcare plans that come with that. In this case, it appears that we are supporting the existence and availability of healthcare to anyone who qualifies as someone with a disability, which includes us. This is a little bit broader than just equal access, it's also about making sure that we can get the healthcare we need through this disability-related, income-restricted program. At some point, in the words of Dr. Jernigan, we need to find enough food to keep body and soul together. 

Hope that helps!

Justin

Justin Mark Hideaki Salisbury
he/him/his

Phone: 808.797.8606
Email: President at Alumni.ECU.edu
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-salisbury  
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Justin_Salisbury 

“Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot un-educate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore.”

Cesar Chavez

-----Original Message-----
From: Blind allday <blind247365 at gmail.com> 
Sent: Tuesday, March 02, 2021 3:06 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Justin Salisbury <PRESIDENT at alumni.ecu.edu>
Subject: Re: [NABS-L] Federation Philosophy and Reproductive Rights

Hello Justin, A couple things about your article.It's mostly about women facing accessibility barriers, which is true. I believe the RNIB is working on an accessible pregnancy test. 
Can you explain  why you believe in the following    "Blindness should not prevent someone from having the same access to reproductive healthcare that would be available to their sighted counterpart. If sighted women can access the online healthcare information system, blind women should have equal access. If sighted patients can fill out the paperwork privately, blind patients should be able to do the same. For affordability, I am not sure that we should offer a disability discount, but there are funding mechanisms to help low-income patients receive care, and they are disproportionately used by blind patients; thus, we may have an incentive to support those funding mechanisms because of their disproportionate impact on our community. Any access barrier related to blindness should be toppled."  Especially about you not believing in a disability discount but supporting a general discount.  The rest of your article is just preaching to the choir about blind people being equals  and having the same rights as anyone else which is true. I think you were trying to be controversial but at the same time not be controversial.

> On Mar 2, 2021, at 10:09 AM, Justin Salisbury via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi everyone,
> 
> I want to share with everyone a piece that I was fortunate enough to publish in the March issue of the Braille Monitor. I am hopeful that it will lead to meaningful reflection and discussion. Don't feel like you cannot disagree with me, but, if you do, please explain why in a way that will not scare off someone who might be brand new to our mailing list.
> 
> Some of us may have heard people say something like "I am a member of the National Federation of the Blind; therefore, I am 100 percent pro-life," or "I am a member of the National Federation of the Blind; therefore, I am 100 percent pro-choice." I contend that the Federation philosophy is not inherently pro-life or pro-choice, but there are perhaps meaningful applications of our philosophy in the area of reproductive rights.
> 
> Here it is:
> 
> https://www.nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm21/bm2103/bm210314.htm
> 
> Aloha,
> 
> Justin
> 
> 
> Justin Mark Hideaki Salisbury
> he/him/his
> 
> Phone: 808.797.8606
> Email: President at Alumni.ECU.edu<mailto:President at Alumni.ECU.edu>
> LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-salisbury
> ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Justin_Salisbury
> 
> 
> "Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot un-educate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore."
> 
> Cesar Chavez
> 
> 
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