Sometimes, a “routine” medical appointment is anything but.

A wheelchair-bound patient arrives for their annual mammogram, only to discover she must stand to complete the exam. A patient in a larger body makes an appointment with their gynecologist and is told the exam table is too small for them to sit on.

These are just some of the issues that disabled and bigger-bodied patients can have at medical appointments.

“I think [people without disabilities] would be shocked to see what we go through in … health-care spaces,” said Syanne Centeno-Bloom, a disability rights activist, adding, “That leads to a lot of people not seeking care.”

The updated Department of Justice guidelines—issued in August 2024—requiring accessible medical diagnostic equipment to be available in all government-funded health facilities; the deadline to fix these problems is August 9, 2026.

In practice, however, accessibility compliance is not heavily enforced at the federal level. Americans with Disabilities Act requirements often rely on private lawsuits or complaints filed by patients to enact, rather than on federal oversight. State governments are also tasked with enforcement.

Now, as the August deadline approaches, advocates say implementation is lagging. Some reproductive and sexual health clinics nationwide are adopting more inclusive equipment, if slowly. But weak enforcement mechanisms mean progress is uneven across states, and that could present a long-term problem for disabled patients’ reproductive health.

‘There’s a dignity issue’

According to a 2024 academic study published before the new accessibility rules were issued, fewer than 40 percent of medical offices had disability-accessible examination tables or weight scales.

Centeno-Bloom, a model and disability rights activist with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), endometriosis, osteoporosis, and several immunodeficiencies, has experienced the results firsthand.

“Most places don’t have the exam tables that you can be weighed on,” she told RNG, referring to dual-use tables that allow patients to be weighed and examined in the same place.

They eliminate the need for multiple transfers between different medical equipment, reducing patients’ potential for injury and embarrassment. Inaccessible equipment that does not cater to wheelchair patients can result in incorrect positioning during operations and positioning injuries that affect the skin, joints, ligaments, and bones.

In some instances,........

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