We've now had three states attempt to create legislation that stands to pose real problems for disabled people choosing to be accompanied through life by highly trained service dogs. Thankfully, AZ's died before it got very far. Maine and Oregon still have things on the table for consideration. (I will put the text up for both of these later this afternoon.) The service dog industry and service dog handlers are in real trouble.
I fear it won't be long before we see even more states trying to put these sorts of problematic laws in place. I will be using this space for the occasional ethics, policy, law and/or legislation-related blog, but primarily this space will be used to try to keep folks up to date with what's going on where. Whether you are a Service Dog handler of any type (Guide/Hearing/Mobility/Psych/Medical Alert/Other), family or support team member for a handler, work in the industry, or are simply a private citizen who cares about the rights of the disabled, you're going to want to stay on top of the language various states are trying to push through. We've fought too hard to have our civil rights recognized to have them taken away because we aren't paying attention.
I'll do my best to keep current, but please do contact me if there's something going on in your state that you think others should know about.
My hope is that my readers will choose to act. The AZ bill (which would have impacted disabled peoples' ability to have their service dog in restaurants - among other things) was squashed before getting very far thanks to public outcry.
Will the Americans with Disabilities Act and other Federal law "override" much of what some states are trying to do? Yes. Will we see mass confusion and will handlers have to deal with complications anyway in the event any of these things pass? Undoubtedly.
No comments:
Post a Comment