Disability Rights At Risk, 7 States Back Case Attacking Key Protections, Warehoused Institutions, TX v. Kennedy
- 'Disability Rights Are at Risk as 7 States Back Case Attacking Key Protections.' - Ed.
Advocates for disability rights are fighting the lawsuit, which would push more people to be warehoused in institutions. Truthout, 5.30.26.
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- (Photo): On the 35th anniv. of the Americans with Disabilities Act hundreds of members and allies of disability advocacy activist groups from all across NY gathered at Washington Sq. Park for the ADA35 NYC Protest, Rally, July 26, 2025.
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The right of disabled people to live in community rather than being warehoused in institutions is under attack in a lawsuit currently being pursued by Texas and 6 other states. But advocacy efforts are persuading states to pull out of the suit against the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Secretary of HHS Robert F. Kennedy Jr., called Texas v. Kennedy.
Two state plaintiffs withdrew from the case in May after hearing concerns from the disability community, bringing the number of remaining state plaintiffs to only 7 in an amended case that began with 17. “[The case] could really alter the legal landscape for people with disabilities who have support needs,” Claudia Center, legal director at Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), told Truthout.
Alongside Texas, the other state plaintiffs are Alaska, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, and Montana. Indiana and South Dakota dropped this month.
The lawsuit targets Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, a landmark piece of disability rights legislation that prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in federal programs or programs that receive federal funding. Since that legislation, as well as the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), came into force, federal guidance and court rulings have helped clarify how the laws must be applied and who is protected under them.
Texas v. Kennedy also targets some of those precedents, especially a body of regulations and decisions often collectively called Olmstead (or Olmstead rules), which ban the unnecessary segregation of disabled people and allow them to receive services in the community rather than in institutions. The name comes from the 1999 Supreme Court decision in Olmstead v. L.C., which held that segregating disabled people when needed support could be provided in community is a form of discrimination prohibited by the ADA... - More,
https://truthout.org/articles/disability-rights-are-at-risk-as-7-states-back-case-attacking-key-protections/
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- The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects people with disabilities from discrimination. Disability rights are civil rights. From voting to parking, the ADA is a law that protects people with disabilities in many areas of public life. New on ADA.gov
https://www.ada.gov/
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