Disability Rights

The Green Party supports the full civil and human rights of people with disabilities. We also recognize that disability is an evolving concept, not solely defined by impairments but shaped by institutional, social, and environmental barriers individuals face that prevent their equitable participation in society.

Disability is a natural part of human diversity and we will all, at some point in our lifetime, be a part of the disability community which includes people with short or long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments. Studies have shown that at any given time, up to 27% of the United States population lives with some type of disability and experiences access limitations. The disability experience can vary widely due to personal histories, causes and duration of disability, access to supportive services, and intersectional factors such as race, gender, sexuality, socioeconomic status, education, culture, and religion.

The Green Party of California supports the framework described by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and we interpret this framework through the four principles and related policies outlined below.

The Green Party of California affirms that people with disabilities must be at the forefront of policy development. Their lived experiences, perspectives, and expertise uniquely qualify them to lead in shaping policies that directly impact them. Their voices must be actively sought, prioritized, and integrated in developing new effective policies, ensuring inclusivity, and true representation.

We respect the inherent dignity, independence, and individual autonomy of people with disabilities, including the right to meet their basic needs and to become integrated into mainstream life within their communities so they may develop to their fullest potential, and lead an independent, fulfilling, and productive life.

The Green Party advocates for the following:

Non-Discrimination
1. Guarantee members of the disability community their basic civil rights, including, but not limited to the right to marriage, parenthood, education, voting, accessible and affordable housing and transportation, appropriate accommodation in all private and public spaces, including prisons and jails, access to the court system and competent legal representation, and the right to institutional care if so desired.
2. End exceptions in wage laws and workplace protections for people with disabilities, including expansion of the Medicaid Buy-In programs to ensure access to home and community-based services.
3. Implement and enforce existing federal and state laws that protect people with disabilities, and ensure that they do not bear the burden of mandating compliance to laws intended to protect them, including federal laws such as the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and state laws like the Unruh Civil Rights Act, the Disabled Persons Act, and the Fair Employment and Housing Act.
4. Eliminate small business exemptions to the ADA and ensure compliance by funding incentives to small businesses to remove barriers.
5. Mandate that all end-of-life and medical-aid-in-dying laws include strict safeguards to prevent coercion of people with disabilities into making end-of-life decisions and ensure full respect for their autonomy, independence, and self-determination.
6. Support the creation of state and local governmental caucuses to increase representation, advance visibility, access, opportunity, and equity for disabled individuals and build partnerships, identify problems, and co-create solutions to improve the lives of people with disabilities.
7. Dismantle systemic ableism that criminalizes disabled people in public institutions such as jails, prisons, and hospitals, and in their interactions with police and with medical and mental health first responders.
8. Prohibit the government, laws or courts from forcing people with disabilities to accept treatment or medication without their consent or that of a legal guardian with power of attorney. See the GPCA Universal Health Care platform plank, section 5 "Patient rights and freedom of choice".

Accessibility and Inclusion
9. Provide affordable and accessible supportive housing within all communities.
10. Ensure that people with disabilities are prioritized in access and placement in low-income housing programs.
11. Implement Universal and Inclusive Design in all new government projects, including buildings, events venues, programs, and initiatives, to raise the minimum standard above the current ADA mandates.
12. Fully fund the Federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to ensure full access to quality education that meets each student’s needs.
13. Mandate funding and expansion of para-transit and door-to-door transportation services.
14. Expand funding across all ages to support aging in place and home- and community-based services.
15. Support the development, funding, and implementation of state and local programs designed to increase public awareness of the needs and challenges of the disability community.
16. Require all low-income housing projects to implement accessible building standards through outreach to the disability community.
17. Ensure all people with disabilities have safe and legal access to medical cannabis.

Respect and Acceptance
18. Support the development of policies to discourage stereotyping of people with disabilities by the media, entertainment industry, and educational institutions.
19. Mandate all state government entities to adopt an Equity and Inclusion standard that includes people with disabilities.
20. End the use of the term 'Gravely Disabled' as a legal status in criminal and mental health institutions to prevent dehumanization, excess forced institutionalization, and other human rights violations against people with disabilities.
21. Create and implement educational programs that are informed by people with disabilities, for service providers who interact with them including policy makers, teachers, attorneys, police officers, first responders, medical and mental health care providers, and others.
22. Restore the full due process of the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act to return the evidentiary requirements.

Opportunity and Self-Determination
23. Increase Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Social Income (SSI) to living wages, eliminate waiting periods for these benefits, and provide public lawyers to assist in the SSDI application process.
24. Create a robust resource program to offer free and competent support to people with disabilities for accessing and navigating all benefits available to them, including medical and psychiatric care, adaptive equipment, employment and vocational opportunities, educational resources, transportation, and support services.
25. Provide funding for people with disabilities to hire personal care attendants to provide safe and sufficient personal care, household services, and supervision to allow them to remain safely in their homes.
26. Provide people with disabilities funding for legal representation and court costs, related to disability claims, discrimination, and other violations of their civil and human rights.
27. Expand the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Act to include support and services for all people with disabilities regardless of the age of onset or the nature of the disability.

The 10 Key values of the Green Party engaged in this plank are Social Justice and Equal Opportunity, Respect for Diversity, and Personal and Global Responsibility.

Amended and approved by the GPCA virtual General Assembly on June 29, 2024.