War on people with disabilities

There’s a war going on. I don’t mean President Donald Trump’s highly visible war against Iran. I mean Trump’s largely invisible war on people with disabilities.

In September, a U.S. District Court — encouraged by the Department of Justice — struck down the right to community integration for people with disabilities. The ruling in Texas v. Kennedy dismantles decades of case law recognizing their right to live, learn and work in their communities. It gives the green light so states can reinstitutionalize and resegregate people like my son David.

This follows the 2025 "One Big Awful Bill," which strips finances for David’s programs. Illinois will lose $46 billion in federal Medicaid matching funds over 10 years. This money directly supports the infrastructure required for community care.

Hundreds of human service, disability advocacy and legal agencies denounce rolling back the community integration mandate. So do 18 governors — including Illinois’ JB Pritzker.

This isn’t a necessity arising from rampant benefit fraud. Instead, it’s a conscious ideological choice. To roll back the dream of equality. Of inclusive community.

The Trump junta desires — and is enacting by force — a shrinking circle. One that excludes immigrants. Trans people. BIPOC communities. Muslims. Women. The poor. Republican leaders fancy a society that centers cisgender white heterosexual people. Men. Christians. The wealthy. The Supreme Court is on board. So are many of our fellow citizens. It’s all abhorrent.

The HCBS Access Act— now under consideration in Congress — would counter these challenges by making community services a required, rather than optional, Medicaid benefit. Call your elected officials and demand their support.

At the beginning of our national experiment, Thomas Jefferson penned astonishingly inclusive words: “All men are created equal.” The Pledge of Allegiance declares “liberty and justice for all.” Not some. All. Including people with disabilities.

James B. Gould

Carpentersville