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Press Release
Reproductive Freedom For All Celebrates the 36th Anniversary of the ADA and Supports the Disability Justice Movement
For Immediate Release: Friday, July 24, 2026
Contact: [email protected]
Reproductive Freedom For All Celebrates the 36th Anniversary of the ADA and Supports the Disability Justice Movement
On July 26, 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law, prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities and establishing critical protections for their civil rights. The ADA affirmed the right of people with disabilities to access health care equally, helping lay the foundation for greater inclusion and access to care. But the promise of the ADA remains unfinished, and people with disabilities are still fighting to fully exercise their rights and autonomy.
July marks Disability Pride Month, a time to celebrate the disability community, commemorate the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and honor the advocacy and resilience of those advancing disability rights. We recognize disability as an integral part of human diversity and affirm that disability rights and reproductive freedom are inseparable—everyone deserves equitable access to health care and the autonomy to make decisions about their bodies and futures.
Americans with disabilities are the largest minority group in the United States, representing an estimated 13 to 20% of the population. Still, people with disabilities face substantial barriers to reproductive autonomy from inaccessible facilities, financial barriers, medical discrimination, and a lack of culturally competent care. Those disparities have only worsened since Roe v. Wade was overturned, given that abortion bans have forced patients to travel farther for care. Protecting options like telemedicine for medication abortion is essential so that people who face mobility, transportation, and other logistical barriers can access the care they need.
The disability community has endured a painful history of reproductive injustice, including forced sterilization—which remains legal in 31 states—and reproductive coercion rooted in harmful stereotypes about disability. People with disabilities also experience disproportionately high rates of sexual violence and higher risks of morbidity during pregnancy. Confronting the lasting impacts of discrimination, violence, and stigma is essential to ensuring that everyone can exercise their reproductive freedom.
People with disabilities are also twice as likely to live below the poverty line and experience unmet health care needs due to cost. Many also rely on Medicaid to cover essential services, including reproductive health care, and are among those most affected by efforts to cut or restrict the program.
The Trump administration has relentlessly attacked the federal programs and infrastructure that support disability rights, accessible health care, and civil rights protections. Efforts to disrupt and defund the Administration for Community Living (ACL) and the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) threaten critical research, education, community-based care, and oversight. Under the Justice Department’s new interpretation of Olmstead v. L.C., states could have fewer obligations to fund and support caregivers and community-based programs, threatening decades of progress toward independent living and signaling a return to institutional models of care. These attacks erode the federal government’s commitment to people with disabilities and undermine the resources needed to address longstanding health disparities.
Reproductive freedom cannot exist without disability justice. Reproductive Freedom for All’s 4.5 million members are fully behind the disability community in the fight to eliminate the barriers to care. Together, we are united in ensuring every person—regardless of disability status—has the right to bodily autonomy, parenthood, and health care.
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For over 55 years, Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America) has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for everybody. Reproductive Freedom for All is powered by its more than 4.5 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.
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