Please contact your Senator today and urge that critical legislation ridding our state laws of offensive, archaic language be brought to the Senate floor for a vote before the end of the year!
“An Act relative to individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities” (H.4396), filed by Senator Pat Jehlen, Representative Michael Finn, and Representative Sean Garballey, would strike out certain archaic and outdated words, phrases, and language in our Massachusetts general laws (e.g. “mental retardation”, “handicapped”). Those words would be replaced with more appropriate and person-centered language, such as “individuals with disabilities.”
This is a simple bill with an enormous impact. The words and phrases that are currently contained in our laws come from a different time; they are demeaning to our community members who have intellectual and developmental disabilities.
These individuals deserve respect and dignity – and an act as simple as changing words in our laws can provide that.
This bill has already passed the House of Representatives and is currently before the Senate Rules Committee. There is still a chance that this bill can be passed this legislative session, which ends on December 31.
We need your help to make sure that this bill is prioritized for a vote on the Senate floor before the end of the year. Your advocacy is critical to ensure that this bill is passed this year, so please write to your legislator today!
