About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

LOG IN
LOG IN


40 Harv. C.R.-C.L. L. Rev. 141 (2005)
The Disabling Impact of Wrongful Birth and Wrongful Life Actions

handle is hein.journals/hcrcl40 and id is 147 raw text is: The Disabling Impact of Wrongful Birth and Wrongful Life Actions Wendy F Hensel* I. INTRODUCTION Individuals with disabilities have made significant strides toward in- tegration and acceptance in American society in the last fifty years. Pas- sage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990' and com- parable state laws represented for many the first public acknowledgement that discrimination against people with disabilities is immoral and intol- erable even when committed by private individuals. More than at any other time in American history, the enactment of the ADA inspired genuine hope that people with disabilities could participate equally and be welcomed in all aspects of American life.2 Demands for true integration and accep- tance replaced those for mere tolerance, and the goal looked to be achiev- able. Some scholars have concluded that the ADA and similar legislation was brought about in part by the transformation of the disabled community from a group of disparate individuals to a collective body insistent on civil rights for the whole.3 The excitement and optimism that existed in the wake of the ADA's passage has since diminished. Relatively few individuals with disabilities have met with success in the legal arena under the ADA,4 and societal atti- * Assistant Professor, Georgia State University College of Law. The author would like to thank Andi Curcio, Charity Scott, Eric Segall, Kelly Timmons, Tanya Washington, and Patrick Wiseman for their valuable advice and comments on earlier drafts of this Article. 'Pub. L. No. 101-336, 104 Stat. 327 (codified as amended at 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101- 12213 (2000)). 2 See, e.g., Ann Hubbard, The Major Life Activity of Belonging, 39 WAKE FOREST L. REV. 217, 255-56 (2004) (describing the text and history of the ADA as rich with procla- mations of a national commitment to welcome persons with disabilities into all aspects of society); Susan Stefan, Delusions of Rights: Americans with Psychiatric Disabilities, Employment Discrimination and the Americans with Disabilities Act, 52 ALA. L. REV. 271, 271 (2000) (When President Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act in the Rose Garden among hundreds of people with disabilities, the mood was one of tremendous hope and triumph.). I See, e.g., Deborah Kaplan, The Definition of Disability: Perspective of the Disability Community, 3 J. HEALTH CARE L. & POL'Y 352, 352 (2000) (noting that the disability rights movement can claim primary political responsibility for the ADA); Laura L. Rov- ner, Disability, Equality, and Identity, 55 ALA. L. REV. 1043, 1059-63 (2004) (describing how disability advocates' attempts to frame their struggle as one for civil rights were re- sponsible for and reflected in the ADA). 4 For example, one study reflects that employers win 95.7% of ADA cases at the fed- eral appellate level. John W. Parry, 1999 Employment Decisions Under the ADA Title I-