Article by Robyn M. Powell, Erin A. Andrews, and Kara B. Ayers
The desire to become a parent transcends all identities--including disability. Despite federal disability rights laws, however, a nascent body of scholarship indicates that parents with disabilities experience substantial and pervasive inequities. Although legal scholars have extensively examined the discrimination that disabled people encounter while parents, there is scant legal scholarship critically evaluating, or even acknowledging, the impediments that *370 people with disabilities experience throughout the process of becoming parents. In particular, legal scholarship has not adequately examined legal and policy barriers that may hinder people with disabilities' access to health care before, during, and after pregnancy.
This study, conducted in accordance with established methodological practices from the social sciences, responds to this scholarly void and is the first to provide concrete data about the barriers that parents with disabilities experience when accessing health care before, during, and after pregnancy. This study draws original empirical data from qualitative interviews with thirty-eight parents with disabilities. Three themes emerged from the data indicating barriers to health care. First, physical barriers, specifically architectural barriers and inaccessible medical diagnostic equipment, impede parents with disabilities' access to health care. Second, communication barriers contribute to inaccessible health care for parents with disabilities. Third, programmatic barriers, namely a paucity of policies and procedures about caring for parents with disabilities, negative attitudes, and lack of knowledge among health care providers, result in health inequities for disabled parents. The Article concludes by discussing potential legal and policy implications of the findings and identifies critical areas for future research.
About the Authors
Robyn M. Powell, Bruce R. Jacob Visiting Assistant Professor at Stetson University College of Law and Senior Research Associate at the Lurie Institute for Disability Policy, Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University.
Erin E. Andrews, Psychology Program Manager at Veterans Health Administration VISN 17 Telemental Health Clinical Resource Hub and Affiliate Faculty in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin.
Kara B. Ayers, Assistant Professor, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Division of Behavioral Pediatrics.
Citation
96 Tul. L. Rev. 369 (2022)