Why I’m Sounding the Alarm
As a disabled legal scholar and advocate trained in atrocity prevention, I’ve spent much of my life working to prevent human rights abuses across the globe. Today, I’m turning that lens inward—toward the United States, because what I see happening to disabled people in this country is deeply alarming.
There are early warning signs of atrocity. There are atrocities already happening, and there are deep wounds from past harms that have never been acknowledged or repaired.
We are not living in a utopia where disabled people have equity, and unless we act now—together—the situation will worsen.
That’s why I joined Yes! Access and why I’m asking you to join us.
The Atrocity Prevention Lens: A Framework for Action
Atrocity prevention isn’t just about stopping genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes or the crime of aggression. It’s a set of strategies designed to prevent large-scale human rights abuses during peacetime, conflict, and recovery. It involves tools including early warning, community organizing, legal advocacy, and building coalitions of resilience.
Using this lens, I assess the U.S. today as a country where:
- Atrocities against disabled people are ongoing;
- Early warning signs of mass dehumanization are flashing red; and
- Our past traumas are unresolved, making our communities more vulnerable to future harm.
Dehumanization is an Atrocity Early Warning Sign
Dehumanization is a well-documented precursor to atrocity. In the U.S., we are seeing this in:
- Political rhetoric framing disabled people as burdens or threats to national progress;
- Public messaging that normalizes exclusion in the name of “efficiency” or “cost-saving”;
- Efforts to “cure” disability as though our lives are inherently tragic.
What often surprises people is that disability is not a medical term—it is a political and legal identity. It is a community – and that community is being targeted.
We are being divided—across racial, economic, gender, and diagnostic lines—by policies that pit us against one another and encourage “lateral ableism.” We are told to compete for care, to fear each other’s needs, to blame one another for systemic failures.
But I’ve seen this pattern before. Around the world, when governments seek to marginalize, they start by dividing communities from within.
The Legal Landscape: Erosion at Every Level
Let’s be clear: there is a coordinated, systemic rollback of disability rights protections underway across the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches in the United States.
Executive Branch:
- Executive orders like Ending Crime and Disorder in America’s Cities criminalize unhoused people and expand institutionalization for people with psychiatric disabilities and substance misuse.
- Rapid passage of policies like the “Big Beautiful Bill” Act on short deadlines (e.g., over the 4th of July holiday) reduce public participation, prevent resistance, and gut vital protections, including Medicaid, a program relied on by millions of disabled people.
Legislative Branch:
- Congress is cutting Medicaid through the “Big Beautiful Bill”, and considering other harmful changes to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
- States are passing bills like Alabama Senate Bill 1, which criminalizes helping disabled people vote by mail.
- Local governments are enacting harmful policies, such as mask bans, that disproportionately endanger immunocompromised communities.
Federal Agencies:
- The Department of Health and Human Services is funding research aimed at “curing” autism while defunding critical supports.
- The EPA is rolling back protections that safeguard disabled people from climate-related harms, including pollution, extreme heat, and natural disasters.
Judicial Branch:
- Disability rights cases are flooding the courts. Protections once assumed—under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or state-level laws—are no longer guaranteed.
The Big Picture: Strategic Disablement and Rights Removal
We are facing a two-pronged attack:
- Increased disablement: Through poverty, environmental degradation, food insecurity, and restricted access to health care.
- Rights removal: Through targeted rollbacks of legal protections that make life possible for disabled people.
These are not isolated incidents. They are part of a strategic effort to erode the fundamental human rights of an entire population.
And let’s be honest: the burden falls heaviest on those already multiply marginalized—disabled Black, Indigenous, Latine, LGBTQIA, and low-income communities.
Coalition as a Tool of Resistance and Survival
When everything else is stripped away, what remains are the bonds between us. In every context I’ve worked—from Latin America to the Middle East—coalition-building is a powerful, and often the last remaining, line of defense for at-risk populations.
Yes! Access exists to build that defense.
We are a nationwide coalition of disabled people and disability justice organizations committed to resisting dehumanization, restoring rights, and reimagining accessibility in the U.S.
We do this through:
- Legal and policy advocacy;
- Public education and awareness;
- Cross-movement solidarity; and
- Emergency response and protection of our most at-risk members.
What we’re building isn’t just a network. It’s a lifeline.
Join Us
The fight for disability rights in the United States is at a critical juncture. The legal scaffolding that protects our lives is being pulled apart piece by piece. But if we act together, we can hold the line—and build something stronger.
I invite you to:
- Join Yes! Access – Sign up as an individual or organizational member at yesaccess.org.
- Inform your networks – Share this post and talk to your communities about the threats disabled people face.
- Connect with me – If you’re working on disability justice, atrocity prevention, or building coalitions, I want to hear from you. Reach out to me on LinkedIn.
Our lives are not burdens. They are brilliant, complex, and worth defending. Let’s rise together.