Disability, Difference, Discrimination: Perspectives on Justice in Bioethics and Public Policy

Title: Disability, Difference, Discrimination: Perspectives on Justice in Bioethics and Public Policy
ABP identifier: ABP-W-0032
Creator: Anita Silvers
Date: 1998
Type: Book
Description: Silvers, Wasserman, and Mahowald brought different theories of justice to disability policy and bioethics after the Americans with Disabilities Act. Their arguments addressed discrimination, genetic selection, treatment of disabled newborns, assisted death, independence, and the social organization of disability.
Intellectual stream: Disability bioethics; Justice & allocation
Verification status: Verified
Evidence confidence: High
Historical significance: Silvers, Wasserman, and Mahowald brought different theories of justice to disability policy and bioethics after the Americans with Disabilities Act. Their arguments addressed discrimination, genetic selection, treatment of disabled newborns, assisted death, independence, and the social organization of disability. The dialogic structure preserved disagreement among formal equality, distributive justice, and feminist analysis instead of presenting a single disability position. The book is significant because it challenged assumptions that disability automatically means diminished well-being, dependence, or incompetence. It also helped connect bioethical debates about treatment and genetics to civil rights and to the political conditions under which disability is experienced.