AAPD responds to Virginia delegate's remark that a disabled child is punishment for abortion

The AAPD statement. (Here's a story about Marshall's comments in the Williamsburg Yorktown Daily.)

WASHINGTON, D.C. -– The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the country’s largest cross-disability membership organization, issued a statement Tuesday in response to Virginia Delegate Robert G. Marshall’s remarks last week suggesting that women who have had abortions are punished later with children with disabilities.

“These outrageous comments not only attack us as people with disabilities, but our families as well. In all my years of public service, I have never heard anything so hurtful,” said Tony Coelho, AAPD’s board chair, former House Majority Whip and the author of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

“Even as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Marshall’s remarks are a reminder that we still have a long way to go in fighting for our civil rights,” said Andrew Imparato, AAPD’s President and CEO.