#NoBodyIsDisposable Campaign Against Discrimination in Triage |

WHO WE ARE

We are people targeted by triage plans during the COVID-19 pandemic — people with disabilities, fat people, old people, people with HIV/AIDS or other illnesses — and our loved ones who don’t want us to die. We partner with social justice and civil rights organizations, as well as medical professionals to demand policies that avoid triage and avoid discrimination in triage.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

We’ve got 3 actions you can take today, from home, to help raise the visibility of this issue and save lives during this pandemic.

ACTION 1:
SIGN THE OPEN LETTER

Please sign on to our open letter to care providers and hospitals. Your full name and state will appear on the letter, but your city and email contact information will be kept private, and you can opt-in to keep in touch with the campaign (no spam ever!!!).

VIEW AND SIGN HERE

ACTION 2:
CONTACT GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS

WHAT TO DO:

Use the links below to find the contact information for your governor and members of both houses of congress, and then send an email or fill out the contact form with the sample letters provided, or call their office and use the letter as your guide to share your concerns. (And if you want to tweet at the president, please feel free!)

CONTACT YOUR GOVERNOR

Find them here:

https://www.usa.gov/state-governor (choose your state from the dropdown)

Sample letter:

Dear Governor ___________,

Triage protocols that are based on disability, age, and certain comorbidities violate laws including the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504, the Affordable Care Act, the Age Discrimination Act, and the US Constitution.

This impacts me and the people I care about directly.

Please take these four steps:

Direct that all hospitals and care providers use only fair, nondiscriminatory protocols when allocating scarce resources, including not discriminating based on disability, age, or body size.
Create shelter-in-place rules to reduce the need for rationing protocols.
Address all issues needed to make it possible for people to shelter in place:
— provide immediate financial relief for all, including people who are undocumented
— cancel rent and mortgage payments
— make sure people, including kids, have food
— guarantee healthcare for all, including testing and treatment
— guarantee housing for those without it
Please do everything in your power to provide adequate personal protective equipment, supplies, and medical devices to protect everyone. Just like their disabled patients, providers deserve the very best chance to survive.

Nobody is disposable.

Signed,

__________________

Organized by:

NoBody Is Disposable Coalition

CONTACT YOUR SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES

Find them here:

Senate (choose your state from the dropdown) and House of Representatives (enter your zip code to search)

Sample letter:

Dear [leader],

The COVID-19 pandemic is putting people who are especially susceptible to the virus in extra danger from unfair, unlawful, and discriminatory triage protocols.

Our medical providers should not be preparing to “triage” our deaths through discrimination. Such recommendations violate the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504, the Affordable Care Act, the Age Discrimination Act, and the US Constitution.

As an elected leader, you have the power and responsibility to immediately pass legislation that will:

Prohibit the rationing of scarce medical resources on the basis of disability, size, age, HIV/AIDS status, comorbidities, or perceived quality of life. Please support a resolution that pandemic triage should never be based on protected characteristics.
Invest in the building and distribution of key resources such as ventilators, ventilator parts, and personal protective equipment for medical workers.
Support your state and advocate for the federal government to support shelter in place as long as medical experts deem it necessary to save lives and avoid discriminatory triage practices.
Advocate for the compassionate release of everyone in ICE detention. Until release occurs, ensure PPEs and sanitary practices are available.

People are not disposable.

Help our medical care providers stay safe, and support them in doing no harm. Help them avoid triage by getting them the resources they need to do their jobs. And help us all survive.

Signed,

__________________

Organized by:

NoBody Is Disposable Coalition

We are people targeted by triage plans during the COVID-19 pandemic — people with disabilities, fat people, old people, people with HIV/AIDS or other illnesses — and our friends and loved ones who don’t want us to die. We partner with social justice and civil rights organizations, as well as medical professionals to demand policies that avoid triage and avoid discrimination in triage.

CONTACT THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES AND THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Find them here:

HHS Office of the Secretary:
E-mail Address: Secretary@HHS.gov
Phone Number: 202-690-7000

Web form for Attorney General Barr
DoJ Comment Line: 202-353-1555
DoJ Main Switchboard: 202-514-2000
TTY/ASCII/TDD: 800-877-8339 (or Federal IP Relay Service)

Sample letter:

Dear Secretary Azar and Attorney General Barr,

As COVID-19 spreads, I am deeply concerned that the pandemic is putting people who are especially susceptible to the virus in extra danger from unfair, unlawful, and discriminatory triage protocols.

We urge the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to clarify the obligation of States to adhere to anti-discrimination laws when responding to COVID-19.

As regulatory leaders, we ask you to immediately notify states that as they review and create their “crisis standards of care,” they must not authorize or promote any form of discrimination that would violate the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination Act, other civil rights laws, or the US Constitution.

Comordibities, especially those that have a disproportionate impact on people based on race, gender, size/BMI, or similar characteristics, should never form the basis of rationing. While we are all concerned about COVID-19, these populations are even more terrified of seeking care from medical providers and being told, “You aren’t worthy enough to get the hospital bed or ventilator you need to survive.”

Nobody is disposable.

Signed,

__________________

Organized by:

NoBody Is Disposable Coalition

ACTION 3:
SHARE A SOLIDARITY SELFIE

Send a message of strength and self-love to those of us who are in the hospital, fighting COVID-19 and fighting prejudice to survive!

Help spread the word about #NoBodyIsDisposable – grab a piece of paper, write down our hashtag and why you are concerned, take a selfie, and share it on social media. You can link to NoBodyIsDisposable.org in the comments to help people join the cause.

Here’s some sample text you can use when you post:

Facebook and Instagram:

Post with your solidarity selfie!

Scared of COVID-19? Angry that triage plans target disabled, fat, old, HIV+ and sick people, and folks with a perceived poor “quality of life”? Who will suffer disproportionate impact? People of color, poor folks, immigrants, queer and trans folks, incarcerated and homeless folks, and others considered disposable by capitalist, white supremacist society.

HELL NO!

NO! NO! NO!

WE ARE NOT DISPOSABLE!!

People of color & disabled people DESERVE TO LIVE — EUGENICS WILL NOT HAPPEN ON OUR WATCH!!!

WE DEMAND:

No discriminatory triage plans or practices!
Avoid the need for triage by preventing folks from getting sick — more shelter in place and financial support to do so!
Repurpose factories to make personal protective equipment and ventilators!

THIS IS NOT A DRILL!

FIGHT FOR OUR LIVES! NoBodyIsDisposable.org

SPREAD THE WORD! PLEASE SHARE WIDELY!

Post your SOLIDARITY SELFIE with all this text and show us that you are in this fight with us!

#NoBodyIsDisposable
#NoBodyIsDisposableCOVID19
#noICUgenics
#NoEugenicsOnMyWatch
#DisabledNotDisposable
#DontGoDownWithoutAFight
#SolidaritySelfie
#JustSayNoToGenocide
#ImAPersonNotADifficultDecision
#WeAreAllVentilatorWorthy
#FatNotDisposable
#FatAndValuable
#FatNotForgotten
#FatAndBreathing
#ShareTheAir
#AirForAll
#HelpThemDoNoHarm
#LivesBeforeCapitalism
#PPEsForThePeople
#ItsNotAHardDecisionItsMurder
#TriageEquality
#TargetedByTriage
#WeAreEssential
#DontRationOurCare

Image description: Selfie of a black femme with red eye shadow and a gold septum ring holding a paper handwritten sign that says “#NoBodyIsDisposable. Hospitals can’t be allowed to decide whose life is worth saving and who isn’t! BIPOC fat queer, disabled, immune-compromised people are NOT disposable. We have fought too hard to be given up on. #NoICUgenics.

Image description: Selfie of a white, fat femme with dark hair holding a paper sign that says “Don’t let my people die!!! “#NoBodyIsDisposable #NoICUgenics.”

Twitter:

Post with your solidarity selfie!

Don’t let #COVID19 triage kill disabled, fat, old, HIV+ and sick people! FIGHT FOR OUR LIVES: NoBodyIsDisposable.org #noICUgenics #NoBodyIsDisposable #HighRiskCovid19 #CripTheVote