Disabled North Carolina residents say a restriction on mask-wearing, now being considered by the state legislature, would make it harder for them to access parts of their communities, pushing them again to isolation.
“This law tells them that you are not welcome in our community and that we do not appreciate your presence to accommodate your need to wear a mask,” Tara Muller, policy attorney at Disability Rights North Carolina, told ABC News.
House Bill 237, dubbed “Unmasking the Crowds and Criminals,” would repeal an exception related to the COVID-19 pandemic that allowed people to wear a face mask in public. It allows exceptions for holiday costumes, rituals or ceremonies, theatrical productions, gas masks or job-related use, but would remove the ability for someone to wear a mask to ensure “the physical health or safety of the wearer or others.”
Rep. Erin Pare asks the North Carolina House of Representatives not to approve a bill that would remove a health masking exemption on the House floor of the Legislative Building on May 22, 2024 in Raleigh, IN North Carolina.
Mayika Seminera/AP
Lawmakers in the North Carolina General Assembly are currently negotiating whether to move forward with repealing the exception, which faced opposition in the House but was recently passed by the Senate. Meanwhile, disabled residents and their families are stuck in a waiting game, worried about what this will mean for their future.
The bill aims to limit the use of face masks to conceal the identity of a suspected criminal.
Supporters criticized the use of face masks amid ongoing protests against the war between Israel and Hamas, as many demonstrators were seen wearing masks: “It is time for this madness to at least be slowed down, if not literally shut down,” the Republican bill said. sponsor Buck Newton, according to Raleigh media outlet WRAL.
Similar restrictions are being considered in other states, while still others now have restrictions on mask wearing — including New York, Ohio, Florida and other states.
However, advocates for people with disabilities say such restrictions undermine their ability to protect themselves and others.
Public comment speaker Simone Hetherington urges lawmakers not to pass the masking bill during the State Senate Rules Committee meeting at the Legislative Building in Raleigh, North Carolina, May 15, 2024 .
Makiya Seminera/AP
Bryan Dooley, a North Carolina resident who suffers from cerebral palsy and asthma, told ABC News that he didn’t leave his house for a year when the pandemic started: “And it’s not an exaggeration,” he added.
He worried about the risk of a respiratory infection that could turn into something worse. Patients with asthma and cerebral palsy are at increased risk of serious complications from COVID-19, according to the Mayo Clinic.
As a person with a speech impediment, Dooley said it can be difficult for him to talk to others while wearing a mask, so people around him often wear masks for his protection and for the them, because he often cannot.
He said the disability community doesn’t ask for much: “They just want to contribute to their community, like anyone else.” »
Muller’s organization said people have expressed concerns about going to a public health facility, working, going to a grocery store or just walking down the sidewalk and being potentially confronted by law enforcement or others trying to enforce mask wearing. wearing restrictions. The concerns come from people with a multitude of experiences, including those who are immunocompromised, undergoing chemotherapy, who have undergone an organ transplant, etc.
Katy Neas, CEO of disability advocacy group The Arc of the United States, said mask-wearing remains a serious and important issue for many people concerned about their health.
“You wouldn’t force a child with diabetes to eat something that would make them sick. You wouldn’t force a child with life-threatening peanut allergies to eat peanuts. We need to recognize that some children need these protections for their health fundamental,” Neas said.
Muller said she believes the ban would be a step backwards in making the world more accessible to everyone, not just people with disabilities or immunocompromised people. For example, millions of Americans continue to feel the impacts of COVID-19 and long COVID. There have been more than 100 million recorded COVID cases in the United States, while approximately 63 million adults in the United States have or have had long-term COVID.
“We have made great strides in allowing people with disabilities to enter their communities in ways that were not possible before. Wearing masks is a way for people to feel comfortable accessing their community when they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to do so,” Muller said.
Felicia M. Nurmsen of the National Organization on Disability knows firsthand the impact of long COVID. After developing asthma, as well as experiencing fatigue and worsening heart disease from her COVID episode, she said the neglect of public health and safety was concerning.
“I still have other health problems…nothing says they will ever go away,” Nurmsen said.
Nurmsen said the pandemic has enabled a widespread effort toward accessibility for all, such as wearing a mask for personal and public health, remote work options, increased home delivery options And much more. She notes that many things that make life easier for everyone – from automatic doors to escalators – have accessibility features for people with disabilities.
“When you see someone in a mask on the street, when you walk into a store and someone has their mask on, never assume that person doesn’t have a disability, because you don’t know,” said Nurmsen. “It shouldn’t be an all-or-nothing proposition because we need to think about the entire population.”
ABC News
