Is Diabetes a Disability?
posted on Jul 28 by Stacy in the Opinion and Discussion category
Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is finding support from more than two dozen disability organizations because of her judicial track record and her personal experience with diabetes. Organizations including the American Association of People with Disabilities and the National Disability Rights Networks are sending letters of endorsement to the Senate asking for her confirmation. They say that it isn’t her track record alone that allows her to understand the rights of a person with disabilities, but the fact that she has diabetes as well.
Sotomayor was nominated by President Obama in May and is awaiting confirmation from the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate. Hearings began this morning, and you can follow along several ways:
Matt Laslo, a congressional reporter for Capital News Connection, is live-tweeting: http://twitter.com/MattLaslo
You can also watch a live video feed on CSPAN: http://www.cspan.org
Does the fact she has diabetes make her more sympathetic to the rights of a person with a disability? Should that be used as a factor during her confirmation hearings? Or should it rest solely on the cases she has heard and her ability to follow the constitution?
Update July 28: The Senate Judiciary Committee will be voting on the confirmation of Judge Sotomayor today at 10am ET. The committee is planning on streaming the proceedings here: http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/hearing.cfm?id=4001
What do you think? If she should become the first Latino (and third female) justice today, what would you like to see her focus on?
2 Comments
Sarah, posted this comment on Jul 13th, 2009
Isn’t using her medical condition in consideration for confirmation against the constitution? You can’t do that for any other job, so I don’t see why her medical condition is an issue. There have been justices who have been diagnosed with cancer after confirmation and they were not asked to step down (though some have retired) so why does her having Diabetes matter?
For the same reason it shouldn’t be used by the confirmation committee, it shouldn’t be used by those associated with disability groups. This is exactly what we need to fight against. Being singled out for an illness, instead of included. Isn’t this what these groups fought for? It seems a bit backwards to me to know all the sudden put a spotlight on an illness such as Diabetes and say that because she has one disease she can relate to those with disabilities of all kinds. All disabilities are not equal and these groups should know that better than anyone.
Just my opinion.
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Marie, posted this comment on Jul 13th, 2009
The White House hasn’t said much about Sotomayor’s diabetes, as outlined in this post: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/24778.html
In that article, it is brought up that Sotomayor’s doctor did write a letter on her behalf stating that her diabetes has been very well controlled in the 20 years that he has known her.
Personally, I do not think that Sotomayor’s diabetes should be considered during her confirmation. She has a long history of being a judge and lawyer, and her diabetes has never been an issue.
As to whether she is more sympathetic to the rights of a person with a disability, I believe that she will be… but that is not necessarily just because of her diabetes. I think many things that she has had to overcome and deal with in her life and career have helped her to be an empathetic woman.