Denial of Care: DISability, age and the rationing and denial of care

IF YOU DON’T FIGHT FOR US
DON’T CRY FOR US

My fear is this scenario: to have to attempt to access medical care, alone, without an advocate, witness or representative and to be refused care and “sedated”, surrounded by my executioners: the medical staff who are empowered to decide whose life has value and whose does not. To the death panels that determine who shall live and who shall die: We who are about to die, salute you!

As medical staff and administrations determine that elders and people with preexisting conditions not get ventilators, the largest demographic of those who die are men (AMAB), and yet no one is suggesting that men (AMAB) are refused treatment. (See how preposterous that even sounds?). One could go on to argue that men are the leading cause of violence, school and public shootings, crime,etc. Men don’t live as long as women. And yet no one would dare to suggest that treating men as a group is a waste of resources. So why would it make sense to not treat people based on other demographics? In some cases people with cognitive DISabilities are being denied treatment, not because they won’t survive, simply because those in power to make these decisions determine that some lives have less value than others.

First come first serve, flip a coin.
-Emma Rosenthal

---

---

For my other collection of resources and links related to Covid19:

Race, class and location also play key roles in determining who shall live and who shall die. This post focuses on age and DISability, but racism, sanctions, class and location have particular intersections with receipt of care.
When certain preexisting conditions are identified as factors in who gets care, those groups with a higher incidence of those conditions will die unjustly.  Diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity (without evidence) are listed in some discussions as factors , but these conditions specifically impact certain groups (Blacks, Latinx, Jews, Native Americans) more than others.

• Corona Virus Causes Global Outbreak of Racism
  https://inbedwithfridakahlo.wordpress.com/2020/02/03/corona-virus-causes-global-outbreak-of-racism-2/

  ---

• Social Justice Links Related to Covid-19
  https://inbedwithfridakahlo.wordpress.com/2020/03/17/social-justice-links-related-to-covid-19/

---

---

LINKS:

Work in progress: New links added all the time. Newest links at the top of the page.

---

---

• “Seniors and elders in nursing homes and elsewhere aren’t inherently vulnerable; nor are disabled people in institutions inherently vulnerable. Both of these groups (among others) are rendered vulnerable. That is, they are made vulnerable. Vulnerability isn’t a characteristic that certain individuals possess or embody. Like disability, vulnerability is a naturalized apparatus of power that differentially produces subjects, materially, socially, politically, and relationally. In short, it is by and through the contingent apparatus of vulnerability and other apparatuses that certain members of the population are vulnerableized.”
  COVID-19 and The Naturalization of Vulnerability
  https://biopoliticalphilosophy.com/2020/04/01/covid-19-and-the-naturalization-of-vulnerability/

• THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC HAS BROUGHT OUT SOCIETY’S ALARMING DISREGARD FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
  Politicians and the general public are ignoring the health and safety needs of those with disabilities and chronic conditions.
  https://theappeal.org/coronavirus-disabilities/

• HOW CORONAVIRUS EXPOSES THE WAY WE REGARD AGEING AND OLD PEOPLE
  https://www.kcl.ac.uk/how-coronavirus-exposes-the-way-we-regard-ageing-and-old-people
• Civil rights leaders to DeSantis: Don’t allow state to withhold care from disabled
  https://www.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article241676431.html

• Protect Rights of People with Disabilities During COVID-19
  Ensure Access to Information, Essential Services For Those Most at Risk
  https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/03/26/protect-rights-people-disabilities-during-covid-19
  

  ---

• I’m disabled and need a ventilator to live. Am I expendable during this pandemic?
  https://www.vox.com/first-person/2020/4/4/21204261/coronavirus-covid-19-disabled-people-disabilities-triage

---

• Americans With Disabilities Are Terrified
  They fear they could be denied lifesaving treatment if they end up in the hospital with COVID-19.
  https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/04/people-disabilities-worry-they-wont-get-treatment/609355/

---

• HHS Warns States Not To Put People With Disabilities At The Back Of The Line For Care
  https://www.npr.org/2020/03/28/823254597/hhs-warns-states-not-to-put-people-with-disabilities-at-the-back-of-the-line-for

  ---

   

• People with Down syndrome could be left to die of coronavirus to ‘save’ medical supplies
  https://metro.co.uk/2020/03/27/people-syndrome-may-lower-priority-live-saving-coronavirus-care-12466194/

---

• U.S. Civil Rights Office Rejects Rationing Medical Care Based on Disability, Age
  Medical providers must not engage in “ruthless utilitarianism” in deciding who gets lifesaving treatment for the coronavirus, a federal civil rights officer warned.
  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/28/us/coronavirus-disabilities-rationing-ventilators-triage.html

  ---

• Whose Life is Worth Saving? In Washington State, People With Disabilities Are Afraid They Won’t Make the Cut.
  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/us/coronavirus-washington-triage-disabled-handicapped.html
  

  ---

• OCR Issues Bulletin on Civil Rights Laws and HIPAA Flexibilities That Apply During the COVID-19 Emergency
  https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2020/03/28/ocr-issues-bulletin-on-civil-rights-laws-and-hipaa-flexibilities-that-apply-during-the-covid-19-emergency.html

  ---

• BULLETIN: Civil Rights, HIPAA, and the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
  https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/ocr-bulletin-3-28-20.pdf

  ---

---

---

• People With Intellectual Disabilities May Be Denied Lifesaving Care Under These Plans as Coronavirus Spreads
  https://www.propublica.org/article/people-with-intellectual-disabilities-may-be-denied-lifesaving-care-under-these-plans-as-coronavirus-spreads

  ---

• U.S. Hospitals Prepare Guidelines For Who Gets Care Amid Coronavirus Surge
  https://www.npr.org/2020/03/21/819645036/u-s-hospitals-prepare-guidelines-for-who-gets-care-amid-coronavirus-surge

  ---

• “The complaint outlines concerns that the Alabama Department of Public Health’s Emergency Operations Plan for addressing ventilator rationing in the event of a health emergency will discriminate against those with intellectual, developmental, and physical disabilities… …The plan orders hospitals to “not offer mechanical ventilator support for patients” with “severe or profound mental retardation,” “moderate to severe dementia,” and “severe traumatic brain injury.” The policy also applies to children… “…The complaint echoes one filed earlier this week over similar policies that the state of Washington has prepared in response to Covid-19. Minnesota, Colorado, Alabama, Tennessee, and Utah have all introduced guidelines, criteria, or crisis plans that would allow for allocation—or reallocation—of finite health-care resources based on physical and/or mental health.”
  Alabama’s Virus Ventilator Plan Latest to Draw Ire of Disabled    https://news.bloomberglaw.com/pharma-and-life-sciences/alabamas-virus-ventilator-plan-latest-to-draw-ire-of-disabled

  ---

• DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION COMPLAINT FILED OVER COVID-19 TREATMENT RATIONING PLAN IN WASHINGTON STATE
  https://www.disabilityrightswa.org/2020/03/23/disability-discrimination-complaint-filed-over-covid-19-treatment-rationing-plan-in-washington-state/

  • New York Times–
    “Will Disabled People Be at a Disadvantage for Scarce Coronavirus Treatment?”
  • Seattle Times–
    “People with disabilities would suffer if coronavirus care is rationed, advocates say in civil-rights complaint”
  • NPR–
    “Disability Groups File Federal Complaint About COVID-19 Care Rationing Plans”
  • Associated Press–
    ” Rights Groups: Coronavirus Treatment Plan Discriminates”
  • Bloomberg Law–
    “Virus Stokes Discrimination Concerns From Disability Groups (2)”

  • Kitsap Sun– “Washington rights groups: coronavirus treatment plan discriminates”

    ---

• A Woman With Lupus Said Her Health Care Provider Is Stopping Her Chloroquine Prescription And Thanked Her For The “Sacrifice” https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tanyachen/kaiser-permanente-lupus-chloroquine

  ---

• DISABILITY ‘I Will Not Apologize for My Needs’ Even in a crisis, doctors should not abandon the principle of nondiscrimination.
  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/opinion/coronavirus-ventilators-triage-disability.html

  ---

• Majority of NYC’s coronavirus cases are men between 18 and 49 years old
  https://nypost.com/2020/03/20/majority-of-nycs-coronavirus-cases-are-men-between-18-and-49-years-old

  ---

• Killing off elders, DISabled folx and sick people is a Nazi move
  Life unworthy of life
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_unworthy_of_life

  ---

• People with disabilities are afraid they will be denied health care because of coronavirus
  https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/03/26/coronavirus-crisis-people-with-disabilities-discriminate/5082197002/

  ---

• The Coronavirus Aid Package Could Harm Disabled People A provision denying small-business loans to disability support services could damage a fast-growing and urgent piece of our care sector.
  https://prospect.org/economy/coronavirus-aid-package-could-harm-disabled-people/

  ---

• This is why those ok boomer jokes were really hurtful. It won’t be the rich and powerful elders who will be impacted by this callousness, by those who let our health care infrastructure get to this point, it will be the working class elders whose lives will be disposable. Oh, and people with preexisting conditions. And you thought the criteria for health INSURANCE was tough. Now it means you don’t get a ventilator when you need one. Aren’t all you liberal so called radicals getting it now: your social darwinism is showing.
  “It may become necessary to establish an age limit for access to intensive care…. …In addition to age, doctors and nurses are also advised to take a patient’s overall state of health into account: “The presence of comorbidities needs to be carefully evaluated.” This is in part because early studies of the virus seem to suggest that patients with serious preexisting health conditions are significantly more likely to die. But it is also because patients in a worse state of overall health could require a greater share of scarce resources to survive: “What might be a relatively short treatment course in healthier people could be longer and more resource-consuming in the case of older or more fragile patients.”” “This means that our political leaders, the heads of business and private associations, and every one of us need to work together to accomplish two things: Radically expand the capacity of the country’s intensive-care units. And start engaging in extreme forms of social distancing. Cancel everything. Now.”
  The Extraordinary Decisions Facing Italian Doctors There are now simply too many patients for each one of them to receive adequate care.
  https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/who-gets-hospital-bed/607807/

  ---

• How’s this for supremacy? Doctors in Italy have stopped treating anyone over 80 and some people with preexisting conditions because survival rates for those groups is somewhat lower. (Survival in general for those needing a ventilator is 50%.). But you don’t see them not treating men because their infection rate and death rate is higher. It all comes down to whose lives have more value to those in power.
  Prioritizing based on demographics is eugenics.
  “Coronavirus victims in Italy will be denied access to intensive care if they are aged 80 or more or in poor health should pressure on beds increase, a document prepared by a crisis management unit in Turin propose.”
  Italians over 80 ‘will be left to die’ as country overwhelmed by coronavirus Hardest-hit region drafts new proposals saying who will live and who will die https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/03/14/italians-80-will-left-die-country-overwhelmed-coronavirus/
  

  ---

• Local media, including the online journal Publico, reported that some hospitals in Madrid have already been refusing to fully treat people over 80-year-old or those older than 70 with underlying health conditions….The Spanish government has not published protocols for doctors forcing a prioritized treatment. However, a major Spanish doctors association, Semicyuc, published a plan for doctors dealing with the crisis. The organization recommends prioritizing those with better chances of survival, a longer expected lifespan, better quality of life and those with high “social value”. Spanish hospitals strive to combat virus as cases rise https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/spanish-hospitals-strive-to-combat-virus-as-cases-rise/1774184

  ---

• “Besides, the risk of eroding people’s trust is intolerable. The last thing we want is for people to lose confidence that they will be treated fairly just because of their health conditions or age. Do we intend to make such policies available to the public, or do we keep them secret so only people with privilege will know about them? This is not the story we want to leave for history. And who said that an order from a health authority takes the moral burden off your shoulders? Have we forgiven the doctors in Nazi Germany who experimented with vulnerable patients? We humans carry moral responsibility for our actions. If anything, blindly following an unjust order doubles the burden. Worse than doing what is unjust is not standing up to advocate for the vulnerable. What will be remembered is that we pacified our consciences with a piece of paper we called a “policy… …The healthcare system has a terrible track record of failing various marginalized groups. But we do have a good track record of providing exceptional care to people. Let’s take the opportunity to do it right this time and not miss our chance, because if the public perceives a failure on our part, their trust will take decades to regain.””
  Deciding who lives and who dies
  https://www.modernhealthcare.com/opinion-editorial/deciding-who-lives-and-who-dies

  ---

• This is one of the scales being used to deny or provide care:
  Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI)
  https://www.mdcalc.com/charlson-comorbidity-index-cci

 

Social Justice Links Related to Covid-19

This list or links was initially posted on facebook and facebook censored it!!

Work in progress: New links added all the time. Newest links at the top of the page.

I’m just getting started. Also, I haven’t read all of these. I just needed to put them all in one place and closes up some windows on my computer. I’m reading as fast as I can.

For my other collection of resources and links related to Covid19:

• Corona Virus Causes Global Outbreak of Racism
  https://inbedwithfridakahlo.wordpress.com/2020/02/03/corona-virus-causes-global-outbreak-of-racism-2/

  ---

• Denial of Care: DISability, age and the rationing and denial of care
  https://inbedwithfridakahlo.wordpress.com/2020/03/27/denial-of-care-disability-age-and-the-rationing-and-denial-of-care/
  

---

---

Links:

• https://www.facebook.com/anticonquista/photos/a.122337625151082/518958765488964/?type=3&theater
  

  ---

• COVID-19 RESOURCES FOR UNDOCUMENTED CALIFORNIANS
  https://ciyja.org/covid19/

  ---

• Citing coronavirus, homeless families seize 12 vacant homes in L.A.: ‘We have to do this’
  https://www.latimes.com/homeless-housing/story/2020-03-18/homeless-occupy-more-vacant-homes-coronavirus-pandemic-los-angeles
  

  ---

• The coronavirus and people with disabilities: WHO highlights this high-risk group
  https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/the-coronavirus-and-people-with-disabilities-214936915.html

  ---

• Disabled People Cannot Be “Expected Losses” in the Climate Crisis
  https://www.teenvogue.com/story/disabled-people-vulnerable-climate-crisis

  ---

• Our Responses to COVID-19 Must Center Disability Justice
  https://truthout.org/articles/our-responses-to-covid-19-must-center-disability-justice/

  ---

• ”  The danger to the global poor has been almost totally ignored by journalists and Western governments…The outbreak has instantly exposed the stark class divide in healthcare: those with good health plans who can also work or teach from home are comfortably isolated provided they follow prudent safeguards.  Public employees and other groups of unionized workers with decent coverage will have to make difficult choices between income and protection.  Meanwhile millions of low wage service workers, farm employees, uncovered contingent workers, the unemployed and the homeless will be thrown to the wolves.  Even if the Washington ultimately resolves the testing fiasco and provides adequate numbers of kits, the uninsured will still have to pay doctors or hospitals for administrating the tests.  Overall family medical bills will soar at the same time that millions of workers are losing their jobs and their employer-provided insurance.  Could there possibly be a stronger, more urgent case in favor of Medicare for All?”
  Mike Davis on COVID-19: The monster is at the door
  https://www.haymarketbooks.org/blogs/110-mike-davis-on-covid-19-the-monster-is-at-the-door

  ---

  

• “The crisis has exposed the capitalist system for what it is: anti-life. In this time of great danger, we need human solidarity — the politics of love, not the politics of hate. We must respond with our hearts and all of our humanity, not just to stop the most catastrophic effects of COVID-19, but to end this inhumane and criminal capitalist system once and for all.
  We have to plan for a long-term struggle and use the current momentum of a stumbling giant against itself…
  …But COVID-19 isn’t an individual problem. How we respond must be collective, with human dignity and love. We urge people to share both materially and emotionally with those who are more vulnerable. Just as regular people have responded to crises in the past, we must reach deep beyond what capitalism has forced us to become and come together, physically distant but socially united.”
  The COVID-19 Pandemic: Capitalism in Crisis:  The Red Nation
  https://therednation.org/2020/03/16/the-covid-19-pandemic-capitalism-in-crisis/

  ---

• Coronavirus Is the Perfect Disaster for ‘Disaster Capitalism’
  https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/5dmqyk/naomi-klein-interview-on-coronavirus-and-disaster-capitalism-shock-doctrine

  ---

• “In deeply unequal societies, nations where wealth and power have concentrated intensely, a few people do have the means to undercut the common good. These wealthy few can exploit the vulnerabilities of societies in crisis to make themselves even wealthier.”
  Does the Coronavirus Crisis Have to End with a Wealthier Wealthy? This time around, let’s use the power of the public purse to reduce inequality.
  https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/03/14/does-coronavirus-crisis-have-end-wealthier-wealthy

  ---

• Naomi Klein: how power profits from disaster
  https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jul/06/naomi-klein-how-power-profits-from-disaster

  ---

• “This amazing spirit of human solidarity must become even more infectious than the coronavirus itself. Although we may have to be physically apart from each other for a while, we can come together in ways we never have before…We’re all in this together. And we can only succeed together,” he added. It is that ethos that has driven Cuba’s revolutionary healthcare system for 60 years. “
  How Cuba is Leading the World in the Fight Against Coronavirus
  As Cuba sends doctors around the world to help fight coronavirus, a Cuban antiviral drug, Interferon Alpha 2b, is helping countries like China stem the tide of the outbreak

  ---

• On racism: I’ve put together a slew of articles on racism and its implications in this crisis. Corona Virus Causes Global Outbreaks of Racism https://inbedwithfridakahlo.wordpress.com/2020/02/03/corona-virus-causes-global-outbreak-of-racism/
  

  ---

• Are Our Prisons and Jails Ready for COVID-19?
  https://www.aclu.org/news/prisoners-rights/are-our-prisons-and-jails-ready-for-covid-19/

  ---

• Public health expert says African Americans are at greater risk of death from coronavirus
  https://theundefeated.com/features/public-health-expert-says-african-americans-are-at-greater-risk-of-death-from-coronavirus/

  ---

• Take this COVID-19 as serious as a heart attack, says Dr. Georges Wood THE CORONAVIRUS IS PUTTING THE FAILINGS OF ABLEISM AND INDIVIDUALISM ON FULL DISPLAY
  https://wearyourvoicemag.com/news-politics/coronavirus-individualism-ableism

  ---

• How to Check Your Privilege During a Pandemic
  Recognize that COVID-19 will hit the poor and the marginalized the hardest
  https://gen.medium.com/how-to-tell-if-your-privilege-is-showing-amidst-the-covid-19-pandemic-f43e3ac5cd05

  ---

• “”On CNN, an expert on senior care facilities coldly calls COVID-19 “almost a perfect killing machine.” A column in the Telegraph concludes that an economic silver lining will be the “culling” of seniors and the disabled. On Twitter, thousands think it’s funny to call a deadly pandemic “the Boomer Remover.”
  This is the dirty underbelly of ageism and ableism.
  This is the open eugenics the coronavirus reveals.”
  Coronavirus comments expose underbelly of ageism, ableism
  Saying “only” the elderly, ill or disabled will die of COVID-19 devalues their live
  https://broadview.org/coronavirus-ageism-ableism

  ---

• Half Assed Disabled Prepper Survival Tips for Preparing for a Coronavirus Quarrantine
  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rIdpKgXeBHbmM3KpB5NfjEBue8YN1MbXhQ7zTOLmSyo/mobilebasic

  ---

• Demands from Grassroots Organizers Concerning COVID-19
  https://transformativespaces.org/2020/03/04/demands-from-grassroots-organizers-concerning-covid-19/

  ---

• The Cripples Will Save You’: A Critical Coronavirus Message from a Disability Activist
  https://creakyjoints.org/living-with-arthritis/coronavirus-disability-activism

  ---

• Coronavirus: ‘Disabled people must not be seen as inevitable cannon fodder’
  https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/coronavirus-disabled-people-must-not-be-seen-as-inevitable-cannon-fodder/

  ---

• Please Stop Treating Me Like I’m Disposable When You Talk About The Coronavirus
  “If you care about people, then care about vulnerable people as well.”
  https://www.huffpost.com/entry/disabled-immunocompromised-people-coronavirus_n_5e6a6acfc5b6dda30fc51c2f

  ---

• “When people are measured and valued by their economic productivity, it is easy to treat people whose most economically productive days have passed as, well, worthless.
  From a religious perspective, if there is one thing we ought to teach our children, it is that our worth as human beings does not depend on or derive from what we do or accomplish or produce; we are, each of us, infinitely valuable just because we are created in the image of God. We mattered before we were old enough to be economically productive, and we will go on mattering even after we cease to be economically productive.”
  The Staggering, Heartless Cruelty Toward the Elderly
  A global pandemic doesn’t give us cause to treat the aged callously.
  https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/respect-old/607864/

  ---

• (Almost)100 Ways to Not Freak the Fuck Out During #Covid-19
  https://medium.com/@ashleyfairbanks/100-ways-to-not-freak-the-fuck-out-during-isolation-7dd980584d8b?

  ---

• A great read on our collective responsibility and the need for us to work together in this crisis:
  “Ultimately, everyone’s cooperation will help to prevent COVID-19 from sweeping the country and globe simultaneously, as when this happens, hospital beds, intensive care units, ventilators, medical supplies, and the number of well healthcare workers will become the limiting factor in our ability to provide adequate care, and the frequency of poor outcomes will rise. The only strategy the world has now is to slow the spread of COVID-19 and prevent everyone from becoming ill at once. Panicking will do no good either, but it’s definitely time to prepare for you, your family, and your loved ones, in the same way you would prepare for a hurricane, ice storm, or a natural disaster. There is no cause for alarmism, as the vast majority of people in Wuhan survived, suffering only from weeks of boredom while on lockdown. Listen to your public health officials, because in order to avoid a healthcare system collapse, we must all act swiftly, and with unity.”
  As an ER Doctor, I Need You to Know These Things About Coronavirus
  https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/884d35/er-doctor-healthcare-workers-coronavirus

  ---

• Great article on flattening the curve, why and how. Inforrmation on how this virus spreads and why such extreme measures are being taken to contain the spread and the rate of infection.
  Collective action isn’t something we know much about in the U.S.. Even Army slogans “An Army of One” emphasizes the individual. This requires collaboration and isolation, a strange combination.
  Preparing for Coronavirus to Strike the U.S.
  Getting ready for the possibility of major disruptions is not only smart; it’s also our civic duty
  https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/preparing-for-coronavirus-to-strike-the-u-s/

  ---

• Iran pleads for medicine as it fights epidemic under sanctions
  https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/03/iran-request-medicine-fight-coronavirus-covid19-sanctions.html

  ---

• Iran Condemns U.S. Sanctions as “Medical Terrorism” as Coronavirus Death Toll Hits 429
  https://www.democracynow.org/2020/3/12/headlines/iran_condemns_us_sanctions_as_medical_terrorism_as_coronavirus_death_toll_hits_429

Corona Virus Causes Global Outbreak of Racism

Work in progress. new links added. Most recently added links at top of page.

---

---

---

For my other collection of resources and links related to Covid19:

• Social Justice Links Related to Covid-19
  https://inbedwithfridakahlo.wordpress.com/2020/03/17/social-justice-links-related-to-covid-19/

• Denial of Care: DISability, age and the rationing and denial of care
  https://inbedwithfridakahlo.wordpress.com/2020/03/27/denial-of-care-disability-age-and-the-rationing-and-denial-of-care/

---

---

---

Links:
WORK IN PROGRESS. NEWER ARTICLES ADDED REGULARLY. MOST RECENTLY ADDED ARTICLES ARE AT THE TOP OF THE LIST:

• Attacks on Asian Americans skyrocket to 100 per day during coronavirus pandemic
  https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/equality/490373-attacks-on-asian-americans-at-about-100-per-day-due-to

  ---

• Black Americans Face Alarming Rates of Coronavirus Infection in Some States
  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/07/us/coronavirus-race.html

  ---

• Early Data Shows African Americans Have Contracted and Died of Coronavirus at an Alarming Rate

  https://www.propublica.org/article/early-data-shows-african-americans-have-contracted-and-died-of-coronavirus-at-an-alarming-rate

  ---

• US ramps up sanctions devastating Venezuela’s health sector as coronavirus spreads
  https://thegrayzone.com/2020/03/17/us-sanctions-venezuelas-health-sector-coronavirus/

  ---

• Ring the Alarm: COVID-19 Presents Grave Danger to Communities of Colorhttps://www.colorlines.com/articles/ring-alarm-covid-19-presents-grave-danger-communities-color

  ---

• CONSERVATIVE PASTOR SAYS CORONAVIRUS SPREADING IN SYNAGOGUES IS GOD’S PUNISHMENT TO JEWS FOR ‘OPPOSING’ JESUS CHRIST
  https://www.newsweek.com/conservative-pastor-says-coronavirus-spreading-synagogues-gods-punishment-jews-opposing-1494578
  

  ---

• WHO MAY LIVE, WHO MUST DIE
  AS NECROPOLITICS PREDICATES LIFE ON “THE DEATH OF THE OTHER,” CERTAIN LIVES ARE MORE PRONE TO VULNERABILITY UNDER GOVERNMENT DICTATES.
  https://wearyourvoicemag.com/necropolitics-coronavirus-government/

  ---

• Indian Country, where residents suffer disproportionately from disease, is bracing for coronavirus
  Conditions in Indian Country are ripe for a rapid spread of the coronavirus. Rates of infection among Navajos is a major concern.
  https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/04/04/native-american-coronavirus/

  ---

• The convergence of Anti-Asian racism and antisemitism: thought crimes and viruses- Emma Rosenthal

  No Link Between Harvard Scientist Charles Lieber and Coronavirushttps://www.factcheck.org/2020/02/no-link-between-harvard-scientist-charles-lieber-and-coronavirus/
  

  ---

• ‘I won’t survive’: Iranian scientist in US detention says Ice will let Covid-19 kill many
  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/26/sirous-asgari-coronavirus-us-ice-immigration-detention

  ---

• As Coronavirus Spreads, So Does Anti-Chinese Racism
  https://www.teenvogue.com/story/coronavirus-anti-chinese-racism
  

  ---

• Why You Should Stop Joking That Black People Are Immune to Coronavirus
  https://www.citylab.com/equity/2020/03/coronavirus-immunity-racism-history-disease-yellow-fever/607891/
  

  ---

• Public health expert says African Americans are at greater risk of death from coronavirus
  https://theundefeated.com/features/public-health-expert-says-african-americans-are-at-greater-risk-of-death-from-coronavirus/
  

  ---

• Coronavirus coverage shows how epidemics can spread racism
  https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/response-coronavirus-shows-how-epidemics-can-spread-racism/

  ---

• Comparing Jews to a disease is never NOT racist. (And predictable)

  CNN Host Michael Smerconish Rebuked for Comparing Sanders Surge to Spread of Coronavirus
  https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/02/29/cnn-host-michael-smerconish-rebuked-comparing-sanders-surge-spread-coronavirus
  

  ---

• What I think about COVID-19 this morning
  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cI_D3ULz6-qoBRMND8dIVz-naW92MqATphBg5bQEIjg/mobilebasic?fbclid=IwAR01gQGLjg-9MI08CQmKPis6K2bHU9LCUiB6Lf_ln1MQlKvN7b-7wQBIQcg

  ---

   

• We are not a virus – The spread of quiet racism.
  https://www.kelliloocpa.com/blog/wearenotavirus

  ---

• When Xenophobia Spreads Like A Virus
  https://www.npr.org/2020/03/02/811363404/when-xenophobia-spreads-like-a-virus
  

  ---

   

• How to stop the spread of racism during the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak
  https://www.fastcompany.com/90473043/how-to-stop-spread-racism-covid-19-coronavirus-outbreak

  ---

• What’s spreading faster than coronavirus in the US? Racist assaults and ignorant attacks against Asians
  https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/20/us/coronavirus-racist-attacks-against-asian-americans/index.html

  ---

• “When the deadly H1N1 virus began in the USA, killing over 12,000 people in the United States, you can bet Australian newspapers didn’t call it an ‘American virus’ – yet these headlines blatantly target a minority community in this country.^”
  Stop racist coronavirus reporting
  https://www.colourcode.org.au/campaigns/colour-code/stop-racist-coronavirus-reporting/stop-racist-coronavirus-reporting
  

  ---

   

• Scared of Coronavirus? Deal with It
  https://citywatchla.com/index.php/cw/los-angeles/19302-scared-of-coronavirus-deal-with-it

  ---

• “Effectively fighting contagions will also require fighting fears driven by racist impulses. The quarantines of Chinatowns in the 19th century didn’t suppress disease or improve public health but did legitimize discrimination against entire populations.Today, as state agencies and school authorities issue warnings and reassurances, they should be sensitive to this historical pattern. What’s needed is evidenced-based, easily understood information that defuses public anxieties without provoking race-based panic and deepening inequalities.”
  Op-Ed: Panic over the coronavirus recalls other racist chapters in California’s history
  https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-02-07/coronavirus-asian-racism-california-history
  

  ---

• “”We’re going to educate others on what to do to be safe,” said Nina Liang, president of the Quincy City Council. The brunch was a joint effort between the two cities, Quincy and Boston.

  “Being racist is not the way,” she said, alluding to prejudice toward Asians and Asian Americans that has manifested after the virus was discovered in Wuhan, China late last year. “Taking caution, like washing your hands and covering your mouth — that’s the way to do it. Coming out together, supporting one another. That’s the way that we can get through this.””
  ‘Dim Sum Brunch’: Hundreds Gather To Support Boston’s Chinatown Amid Coronavirus Fears
  https://www.wbur.org/news/2020/02/15/dim-sum-brunch-hundreds-gather-to-support-bostons-chinatown-amid-coronavirus-fears

   

  ---

   

• “When Western health care experts say that this sort of lockdown won’t work, they basically mean it’s never been tried on this scale with this kind of uber-efficient government.” “Considering the underlying distrust, it’s hard for the government to say what many epidemiologists are saying: This outbreak is serious but not catastrophic. Because if the state leveled with the people, it would also have to admit that there is no need for this degree of social control. Fewer than 200 people were reported to have died as of Thursday evening, in a country of nearly 1.4 billion, and there is no indication that we are at the start of a Hollywood disaster-style movie.”
  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/30/opinion/coronavirus-china-epidemic.html
  

  ---

   

• ‘They yelled Coronavirus’ – East Asian attack victim speaks of fear
  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/16/they-yelled-coronavirus-first-british-attack-victim-east-asian-man

  ---

• “Public-health experts say that for the most part, panic over the Wuhan coronavirus outside of China is unproductive and unwarranted. The public should take precautions to avoid getting sick, but the most effective preventative measures are everyday actions like increased handwashing and not touching your face.” The Wuhan coronavirus seems to have a low fatality rate, and most patients make full recoveries. Experts reveal why it’s causing panic anyway.”
  Coronavirus has sparked racist attacks on Asians in Australia — including me https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-01/coronavirus-has-sparked-racist-attacks-on-asian-australians/11918962

  ---

• Very confused, tired’: Families split as travel ban prompts airport chaos
  https://www.smh.com.au/national/very-confused-tired-families-split-as-travel-ban-prompts-airport-chaos-20200202-p53x02.html

  ---

• Anti-China sentiment spreads along with coronavirus
  https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-sentiment/anti-china-sentiment-spreads-abroad-along-with-coronavirus-idUSKBN1ZT1B6

  ---

• I was bullied as a child after the SARS outbreak, now it’s happening again with coronavirus
  https://gal-dem.com/i-was-bullied-as-a-child-after-the-sars-outbreak-now-its-happening-again-with-the-coronavirus/

  ---

• An outstanding break down of the virus and the resulting racism in the response. What Actually Happens If You Get Coronavirus?
  https://youtu.be/OTYfke545vI

  ---

• Web MD Coronavirus
  https://www.webmd.com/lung/coronavirus#1

  ---

• It’s Coronavirus Season. You Know What That Means? Racism. Lots of It
  https://nextshark.com/coronavirus-season-racism-lots-of-it/

  ---

• Stop Using The Coronavirus To Justify Your Racism Against Chinese People, K? https://www.5why.com.au/stop-using-the-coronavirus-to-justify-your-racism-against-chinese-people-k/

  ---

• Coronavirus: French Asians hit back at racism with ‘I’m not a virus’
  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51294305

  ---

Corona Virus Causes Global Outbreak of Racism

Post moved to this location: https://inbedwithfridakahlo.wordpress.com/2020/02/03/corona-virus-causes-global-outbreak-of-racism-2/

 

I’m Done

By  Erin Branscome

FYI that I’m pretty much done with extended family and acquaintances who don’t believe that everyone should have access to healthcare.

To be clear, I’m not talking about people who disagree with aspects of the Affordable Care Act, or any other specific system. I’m not talking about people who agree that everyone should have access to healthcare, but who *disagree* with me on how best to accomplish that.

I’m talking about those people who believe that anyone who can’t afford health care should suffer and die. I’m talking about people who’s biggest complaint about “Obamacare” is that their premiums increased too much for them to be able to afford a new pool. I’m talking about people who believe as a matter of principle that you should be on your own when it comes to healthcare — if you can convince other people to help you out, great, but if you can’t do that, sorry; guess you’re gonna die a slow, painful, and utterly preventable death.

Because what every single one of you are saying, if you drill it down, is that if it were up to you, I would be DEAD.

This is not conjecture. This has been confirmed by multiple doctors. If I hadn’t been steps from an operating room when my intestines ruptured, I. Would. Be. DEAD. (I came very, *very* close to dying, regardless.) According to the ER doctor who admitted me that night, if I hadn’t had insurance — good insurance — I *wouldn’t* have been in the hospital, because at the time, they didn’t think I had anything that serious, and admitting me was a “better safe than sorry” thing. If I hadn’t had insurance, hadn’t had the ability to *afford* an optional night in the hospital, I would have pushed for discharge. The ONLY reason I didn’t go home that night, with what they thought was just an ulcer, is that I had insurance. I only had insurance because of the Affordable Care Act.

Without “Obamacare,” I WOULD HAVE DIED. Either alone and terrified in my bed, unable to cry out for help as the pain became excruciating and my lung collapsed — OR, were I able to crawl down the hall to my parents, I would’ve likely bled out in their arms while they tried to figure out what was going on, tried to get help, writhing in indescribable pain and suffocating to death on my own fluids, before mercifically losing consciousness and dying. Imagine the trauma to my parents and siblings.

And if you had your wish, that’s exactly what would’ve happened.

I’ve explained this, over and over. Again and again I strip naked for you, exposing my scars — flay my skin and rip it apart, letting you climb inside, *hoping* to find some scrap of compassion and always being disappointed. Humiliated, as you refuse to address the critical point and instead repeat talking points and lies, making it perfectly clear that nothing I said mattered. My pain — my *life* — doesn’t matter.

I’m done.

As so many people have said, I cannot teach you how to care about other people. I can’t explain to you *why* you should care; I can’t argue you into compassion. And I’m through trying.

But understand this: unless it’s preceded by a humble admission of guilt and a sincere apology, I NEVER want to hear “I love you” or “I’m praying for you,” or even “How are you doing?” ever again. I NEVER want to hear you offer your disingenuous concern or empty prayers to my parents, ever again. Your words are lies, designed to soothe your conscious and make yourself feel better, and I refuse to allow you that option, out of some misplaced sense of “civility.”

If it were up to you, I. WOULD. BE. DEAD. Period.

You’ve told me that you hate the ACA because of the non-essential items you were unable to purchase because of increased premiums. Even *assuming* that’s true — a big assumption — you’re *still* telling me that my LIFE means less to you than a new pool or a cross-country RV trip. And *I’m* the one lacking civility?

From now on, when you ask me how I’m doing, the answer will always be “none of your business.” When you tell me you love me, I’ll respond that I don’t believe you. And I sure as hell don’t want the meaningless, feel-good prayers you offer up to your false idols of American Nationalism, white supremacy, patriarchy, and capitalism. (And if I see or hear about similar comments to my parents, my response will be the same.)

I’m. Done.

Screaming From the Margins

Photographer and graphic designer unknown. If this is your graphic, please let me know so I can give you proper attribution.

Be brave during these difficult and trying times. Speak from your heart and your lives. Speak for your lives and the lives of our sisters, our brothers, and all our nonbinary siblings, everyone screaming from the margins! Make space, hold space for those with less voice than your own, for those who are brought forth to speak truth to power because the times demand that of them.  Speak out against violence, especially the systemic violence of racism, sexism, ableism.

Darken your profile or don’t darken your profile. Follow the news or don’t follow the news. Tell your story or wait until you find the spaces that are right for disclosure. Do not let the abusers and their apologists tell you what to do. Instead remember that this is a time of reckoning and the violent have a choice to hide who they are (or admit who they are) and reevaluate their actions or show us their body politic in all its brutality. The brazenness with which many choose to defend rape culture is truly impressive but unwise. 

We, the marginalized, the victimized, the silenced, the once silenced; are stronger than ever, though it does not always feel this way. Our secrets, the daily attacks on our body, politics that were conducted behind closed doors or under capes and hoods, under cover of night, are now out in the open. The perpetrators are scared and they are outraged. Their lifetime of entitlements are crumbling around them and the rules have changed.

It amazes: the number of people willing to defend abusers during these fragile times, on the social media walls of friends who have either stated or implied that they are victims of abuse without any sensitivity to the impact their words have on others. It is as if they think the world is split into the people they know and actual victims. It is as if the entire #MeToo movement went right over their heads: this happens to every woman, every day. We carry this trauma in our bones and in our cells, in the passageways of synapse, in the corners of memory. Listen to us to understand the geography of trauma. Believe us. We have no reason NOT to tell the truth once we break the silence. 

All you rape apologists showing us who you are. Watch out, some day your past will come up and bite you in the ass. It’s still a free pass for abusers but our day will come and your antics will be saved, for the record. We all known the likes of Brett Kavanaugh, in high school, in college, in the work place, in our kitchens and bedrooms. We know the abuse we brought down when we disclosed, when we named names, when we dared to tell anyone. We know the silence they assume and count upon as we carry their shame. We remember how funny it was to them to get girls drunk and abuse us, or corner us, or push us against lockers.  You’re all playing rapist bingo with your blame game. But we see what you’re doing. So yeah, keep showing us exactly who you are. We’re keeping receipts. There will be a day of reckoning.

Sisters and all people of the margins: feel free to set clear guidelines for your own spaces, including your social media spaces. This is not a violation of anyone’s right to free speech. They have their own wall on which to spew their hate. They have their groups, sanctioned by the powerful owners of the platforms. 

Use their self exposure to determine who you need in your life. Thank them for showing you who they really are. Plan accordingly. 

#PTSD #CrossGenerationalTrauma #MMIW #BlackLivesMatter #SayHerName #NoBanNoWall #DisposableJewishWomen #FeminismIsChoice #ScreamingFromTheMargins  #IntersectionalAgendas

Banning Plastic Straws: The Strawman of Strawmen

By Emma Rosenthal for inbedwithfridakahlo.wordpress.com

Rebuttals to each bingo square:

What about reusable straws?
Reusable straws are problematic for many reasons. People with the types of DISabilities that require the use of straws to drink often can’t use reusable straws which need to be cleaned, very carefully. If they are not cleaned, they can harbor diseases which can be especially harmful and dangerous for people with compromised immune systems.

They can use paper straws & compost them.
Not everyone has a compost pile, which requires a lot of work and space to maintain and which may not be something someone with a DISability that requires the use of drinking straws, to be able to do on a regular basis.
Paper straws that are thrown in the trash contribute to landfills which are air tight. Nothing decomposes in a landfill.
Also, paper straws are not as substantial as plastic ones, and often break or fall apart.

My sister’s cousin’s friend works with the handicapped…
This is the DISability version of “some of my best friends”, it is stated in many forms but usually doesn’t involve having actual friends with DISabilities.  (My clients, my child, my dad….), that dismiss the issues of access and accommodation by claiming someone else with a DISability said something different or had different needs.

It’s ableist to say that DISabled people need straws. They’re just as capable as everyone else.
This is a concern troll statement that pretends to care about and advocate for DISfolx by pretending that accommodations aren’t really necessary.

We all need to make sacrifices (which is why I chose a campaign that requires absolutely nothing from me).
The straw issue demands that DISfolx give up drinking while demanding little or no sacrifice by anyone else.

All this negativity. It’s a start!
Calling any demand for access, rights,  human needs negative is a really negative argument that negates the needs and existence of entire groups of people.

I don’t see any reason why we waste resources on severely retarded people.
For many DISfolx, this is the crux of the issue: that our lives have no value, that those who need straws are useless people who don’t deserve to use resources. It’s a #NaziMove that basically uses environmentalism as the basis of eugenics.

What about BAMBOO!?
This is one more superficial call for environmentalism that ignores the social justice issues raised in critiquing the “ban straws” campaign.  Bamboo straws would still need to be cleaned and would also still end up in landfills.

What did people use before there were straws?
Using the past as a model for DISabilty access today is a bad move. People died. DISfolx, died.

We have to start somewhere.
No, we have to have well thought out campaigns that don’t marginalize already marginalized people while demanding little of anyone else and totally ignoring the larger social issues of capitalism, corporate destruction of the environment and the planet. Environmentalism separate from the larger social justice dialogue that ignores human rights and capitalism is not an environmental movement, it’s a feel good without doing anything movement.
Also, this is just a very mean way to derail the issues being raised by DISfolx in this silly campaign that will have little or no impact on the environment.

Why can’t you carry a metal straw?
A metal straw can injure the person using it. Also, metal straws cannot be used with hot liquids.

Can straws be made out of hemp?
Possible. Go and make them, market them and assure that they’re affordable and available. Do that first, then get rid of something lots of people are telling you they need to have for something as basic as drinking.

Concern Troll  (This is the free space card on this bingo card.)
A concern troll is someone who is really against an issue or concern but pretends to be worried or interested in the well being of the people impacted by that issue.

Carry reusable straws with you. It’s very simple. Problem solved.
The campaign is for a full out ban. Carrying straws isn’t the answer.

Wouldn’t it be the responsibility of the “DISabled” person to have one just in case?
Should we expect establishments to provide wheelchairs for all the disabled “folx” too?
This is a misperception that DISfolx use up more resources and demand “special” accommodations than ENabled people. ENabled people are accommodated all the time. Restaurants, movie theaters all provide chairs for ENabled people. Bathrooms are designed for the use of ENabled people. DISability accommodations simply demand that the same accommodations provided to people whose bodies conform to a norm, be provided to everyone else as well.

I once heard a blind man say….
This again is a way to derail any issue by claiming that one person from a group represents the whole group, though in this case, someone who is blind probably doesn’t represent those who need straws to drink.

Some of my best patients are crippled.
This is again another version of the “some of my best friends”, though of course the person doesn’t have DISabled friends.

I know someone who needs a straw or water bottle to drink and he carries his own.
Great! Good for them, and with an all out ban, plus a stigma against using straws, they may not be able to carry them in the future. What else do they need to carry? Why should DISability accommodations be an individual problem and not a collective responsibility? We can’t resolve real environmental issues individually.

Straws worked fine without being plastic.
No they don’t.

People will stop using them if you stop selling them and making them.
Exactly. That’s the problem, DISfolx, even ones who carry their own straws and demand nothing of the world, won’t be able to get straws.

Start making paper ones like the GOOD old days.
Paper straws don’t hold up and fall apart easily. In the GOOD old days, DISfolx were killed, left to die, sent to institutions and hidden from public view. Your eugenics is showing.

They can drink from a well, actually….
Okay, I sparked this with a bit of humor. “Well actually” is the way Ablesplainers (mansplainers, whitesplainers) start a sentence when they want to silence someone from the actual group who is speaking from the authority of their own experience. 

It’s killing the ocean. Everyone needs to make sacrifices.
So then make a sacrifice. Not using drinking straws is a really odd campaign that people are pouring lots of time and attention and resources into, without any real change or impact on real, deep, actual environmental issues. A real change means a total shifting of priorities and that includes recognizing the value of people over profit, over expedience, over industry, over greed. And that means DISabled folx, too.

For more links, memes and videos on the issue of DISfolx and the straw ban:
https://inbedwithfridakahlo.wordpress.com/2018/07/12/the-strawman-of-all-strawmen-links-and-resources/