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Pwny_Danza8165 karma

Hi /u/emilyeverafter, thanks for doing this AMA. When I saw your post, I realized that I had never really considered the extent to which disabled people, by and large, are sexual beings. Given that I seem to be close to the norm based on your post, what do you think the are the best ways to raise awareness about the issue (aside from an AMA, obviously)? Isn't this also a problem because of how we tend to lump the "disabled" in a group together when that could potentially describe a wide range of physical and cognitive issues?

Along those lines, and this is a moral issue that might not really be in the scope of what you want to talk about, but in a more specific case -- a friend of mine, after agonizing about it for years, chose to sterilize his disabled daughter who suffered from far more complex disability than what you are presenting -- as I recall, she had a genetic condition that left her IQ level at that of a four year old permanently and dramatically stunted her growth. She was legally incompetent to consent to anything, let alone a hysterectomy, but I hadn't really considered her agency, diminished as it might be, until you posted this. Do you think such a procedure, where meaningful consent is impossible due to capacity issues, is ever morally/ethically permissible? I guess the main reason I'm asking this is because it is a question I am unable to come to any clear answer on in this first impression of it.

Anyway, that is a lot to answer, but thank you for doing this, taking your time to discuss these issues with us, and answering any/all of the above.

Pwny_Danza8138 karma

Thanks for pointing this out. Where I practice law this is certainly true, and is the case for federal juries, though I'm not positive about other individual states. Parenthetically, if you want to avoid serving on a jury, it is also an excellent strategy to inform judges and prosecutors of this belief.