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March 4, 2025 |  By: Annelise Hanshaw - Missouri Independent

Disability advocates rally in Capitol as lawsuit involving Missouri AG sparks fear, confusion

disability rights advocates protesting at the missouri state capitol building

By Annelise Hanshaw - Missouri Independent

People with disabilities are worried about the fate of federal protections as a lawsuit involving 17 attorneys general — including Missouri’s Andrew Bailey — takes aim at a 50-year-old disability-rights law.

The lawsuit, which was filed in September, targets additions to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act added under the Biden administration. Disability-rights groups began organizing in recent weeks after seeing that the litigation seeks to “declare Section 504 unconstitutional.”

In a filing last week, the attorneys general wrote they “have never moved — and do not plan to move — the court to declare or enjoin Section 504 as unconstitutional on its face.” They only believe, the filing states, that Section 504 provisions added in 2024 are unlawful.

But the assurances have not been enough to calm the nerves of those who say the federal protections are vital to their survival.

At the heart of their case, the attorneys general seek to omit gender dysphoria from being considered a disability under the law, a move aimed at preventing public funds from going to gender-affirming care. But in the most recent filing, they also target other pieces of the law, such as mandates to adopt the “most integrated setting” and avoid putting people “at serious risk of institutionalization.”

The integration mandate written by the Biden administration follows precedent set by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1999, which established that isolation and segregation of disabled people is discriminatory.

The case has caused frustration and confusion among advocates. During Disability Advocacy Day at the Missouri Capitol on Wednesday, they shared their concerns with lawmakers as they await a response from Bailey’s office.

“We’re just encouraging people to ask for clarity, because there’s a lot of concerning things,” Leigh Anne Haun, director of policy advocacy for the Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council, told The Independent.

Haun said she has contacted Bailey’s field offices and gets the impression that the attorney general’s office has been “inundated with calls” about the lawsuit.

“There have been emails and campaigns from every disability organization that I can think of asking people to contact their attorney general,” said Tracey Bloch, director of legislative advocacy for the Missouri Disability Empowerment Foundation. “I don’t know a single person who actually got a response.”

Haun and Bloch are optimistic that they will soon hear from Bailey.

“We need a clear understanding of what (the lawsuit) is, and if it’s removing important protections, then we can advocate,” Bloch said.

State Rep. Melanie Stinnett, a Springfield Republican, said in a Facebook post that she has been in communication with the office and “feels confident that students who rely on Section 504 accommodations in our schools will continue to receive the support they need.”

In a House Budget Committee hearing earlier this month, Democratic State Rep. Kathy Steinhoff of Columbia asked Bailey about the case. He didn’t know which case she was referring to and asked for a case number.

Bailey’s office told The Independent that “we have never sought to get rid of Section 504.”

“Rather, we are challenging Biden’s rewrite of Section 504 that would force the American people to foot the bill for experimental transgender procedures,” James Lawson, Bailey’s deputy chief of staff, wrote in an email.

Bailey said in a statement that he is “demanding a public apology from the radical progressives and teachers unions that are pushing these lies to shackle a critical program that helps so many.”

 

A Movement

 

Section 504, written in 1973, was not enforced until after protesters held sit-ins in federal buildings across the country in 1977. A protest in San Francisco spanned a month, and delegates traveled to Washington D.C. to advocate for enforcement.

Advocates today say pulling back their rights could cause “a revolution.”

“All of the things that we take for granted nowadays would go away, but they were hard fought for,” said Mark Keeley, president and CEO of disability support nonprofit St. Louis Arc. “Lives fought for these rights, and this lawsuit seeks to overturn all of that in one fell swoop.”

Keeley began working in disability advocacy 46 years ago, and the St. Louis Arc predates Section 504.

“I am friends with a woman who is 80 years old. Her son is 63 with Down syndrome, and she’s fought her whole life for him to have access to all these services,” he said. “At 80 years old, she is now fighting again just to keep what she has for her son.”

Tim Eby, executive director of the Special Education Foundation, never thought Section 504 would be at risk of clawbacks.

“Section 504 has been bedrock legislation and civil rights protections for people with disabilities for decades,” he told The Independent.

For Mary Adams, who volunteered during the Disability Advocacy Day, the idea of losing Section 504 is frustrating. Both she and her son have disabilities, and accommodations have been imperative for her son’s education.

“We have every right to have access to anything that anybody else does,” she said. “We have a right to access just like any other American.”

Section 504 is the precursor for the Americans with Disabilities Act, a 1990 law prohibiting discrimination in both private and public entities. The ADA established individualized education plans, which are for students with disabilities requiring special services from schools.

A 504 plan specifies accommodations for students, like access to assistive technology or an elevator. Section 504 applies to all entities receiving federal funding and impacts people of all ages.

Lawrence Yates, president of the Missouri Association of the Deaf, relies on federal laws like Section 504 throughout many aspects of life.

Health care providers whose institutions receive federal funding must have interpreters available for doctor’s appointments. Yates said this is important, as writing during appointments causes miscommunication and wasted time.

Many deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals use a service to work. If they had to hire an interpreter out-of-pocket, it would be cost-prohibitive, Yates said.

He spoke to The Independent using a service that allows him to call people and speak through the interpreter.

Other examples of 504 accommodations include real-time captions, an adjustable desk or ergonomic chair and large-print documents.

“The deaf-blind community and people that have physical disabilities, all of us, we are all going to be affected,” Yates said.

Even if the lawsuit is dropped, advocates say the case has already harmed people with disabilities.

“It makes everybody feel vulnerable, and everybody feels threatened now,” Keeley said. “We’re seeing every day now how things are turning over very, very quickly, and this is very dangerous for people with disabilities to have (Section 504) potentially overturned.”