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Julia Métraux

Julia Métraux

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This Disability Education Law Turned 50 Today. Disability Advocates Want More.

This Disability Education Law Turned 50 Today. Disability Advocates Want More.

On November 29, 1975, Republican President Gerald Ford signed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act into law, which later became the...

30.11.2025 30

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

GOP State Senator Balks at Redistricting After Trump Again Uses the R-Word

GOP State Senator Balks at Redistricting After Trump Again Uses the R-Word

On Thursday, President Donald Trump once again found it acceptable to use the r-word, directing it towards Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, in a Truth...

30.11.2025 4

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

Turns Out Fighting Fascism Helps You Live Longer

Turns Out Fighting Fascism Helps You Live Longer

Terri Williams, who lives in northern Texas, started volunteering as a high schooler in the mid-1970s—at first for Planned Parenthood, educating...

26.11.2025 5

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

Even Trump Wants to Extend Obamacare Tax Credits—But Republicans Stopped Him

Even Trump Wants to Extend Obamacare Tax Credits—But Republicans Stopped Him

President Donald Trump delayed an announcement of a plan to extend ACA tax credits. Yuri Gripas/CNP/Zuma After teasing a plan by President Donald...

26.11.2025 60

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

Domestic Workers Count on SNAP. Trump’s Shutdown Is Hitting Hard.

For low-income people and their families, it’s been a hard, complicated week. On November 1, more than 40 million users of SNAP, the Supplemental...

06.11.2025 10

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

The Radical Life of the Father of the Independent Living Movement

Even attending university in the 1960s was a revolutionary and complicated process for Ed Roberts, who was paralyzed by polio in his early teens. Now...

14.10.2025 5

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

Trump’s New Layoffs Hurt Disabled Kids

Last Friday, all but two senior staff members in the federal Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) received...

14.10.2025 60

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

Brace For the Single Largest Spike in Health Insurance Premiums—Ever

As the federal government enters the ninth day of a shutdown sparked by Congress’ failure to pass a continuing resolution which would fund the...

09.10.2025 30

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

The Human Costs of Trump’s War on Government

On January 22, Josh Josa, who is deaf, was put on administrative leave from his job at the United States Agency for International Development. Josa...

07.10.2025 2

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

Another Shutdown Casualty: Medicare Telehealth Coverage

In 2001, Congress implemented partial Medicare coverage for telehealth, allowing remote visits with doctors and other forms of long-distance care—a...

02.10.2025 30

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

The Deceptive Phrase Behind Trump’s Medicaid Purge

A few days before the passage of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, the White House released a “Myth vs. Fact” document to counter...

29.09.2025 30

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

The Biggest Hurdle to Trump’s Medicaid Work Requirements: The War on Disabled Workers

Armond Dai has been living with Long Covid since his second infection, in September 2023. In December, his symptoms forced him to leave his job in...

26.09.2025 30

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

Disgust, Horror, and “Elimination”: Trump and RFK Jr.’s Eugenicist Autism Conference

On Monday, President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. held a press conference on their attempts to divine...

24.09.2025 40

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

Welcome to the New Era of Covid Vaccine Tourism

In 2021, as the first wave of Covid vaccines became more available to the general population in the US, international travelers from Latin America and...

15.09.2025 10

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

House Dems Blast Labor Department For Abandoning Disabled Workers

On Wednesday, a group of six Democratic members of Congress, led by Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-Calif.), raised concerns that the federal government is...

04.09.2025 10

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

Vinay Prasad, Who Is Making It Harder to Get the Covid Vax, Barely Comes Into Office.

Vinay Prasad, the FDA Director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, has been critical of the Covid vaccine, to put it lightly. Not...

02.09.2025 3

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

RFK Jr. Is Getting Personal Authority Over Who to Kick Off Medicaid

Freddie Elmore hasn’t worked for around 20 years. Now, he’s trying to figure out how, and if, he can return to the workforce—not because he...

25.08.2025 7

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

Ugly Laws: The Blueprint For Trump’s Anti-Homeless Crusade

On July 24, President Donald Trump issued an executive order for a nationwide push to involuntarily commit unhoused people to institutions—claiming...

22.08.2025 4

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

Trump’s Promise to End Vote-By-Mail Is Yet Another Attack on Disabled Voters

On Monday morning, President Trump returned to a longtime fixation, posting on Truth Social that he was “going to lead a movement to get rid of...

19.08.2025 50

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

Report: Teen With Disabilities Detained by ICE Outside School in Los Angeles

On Monday, a 15-year-old boy with disabilities was detained by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement outside a Los Angeles Unified...

13.08.2025 7

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

Wheelchair Users Are Finally Winning the Right to Repair

It took Casey Moore, who relies on his power wheelchair, four months to get it repaired in 2023—and six months, from 2024 to this year, more...

08.08.2025 20

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

Voters Can’t Sue for Disability Discrimination, Court Rules

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Monday that private citizens have no standing to sue for disability-based violations of the Voting Rights...

29.07.2025 60

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

Joy in Hard Times: Celebrating Disability Pride During a Crisis

It’s a difficult period for disability rights: Landmark legal protections have come under attack by the Trump administration, the right is at war...

24.07.2025 5

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

Labor Department Moves to End Disability Hiring Goal for Federal Contractors

Back in 2013, the Obama administration introduced a low-profile but deeply impactful rule for federal contractors: to remain compliant with Section...

18.07.2025 30

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

Trump Just Made It OK to Continue Paying Disabled Workers Peanuts

On July 7, the US Department of Labor formally withdrew its plan for a rule—introduced during the Biden administration—that would federally end...

15.07.2025 30

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

“An Absolute Moral Failure”: Disability Advocates React to GOP Medicaid Cuts

On Thursday, House Republicans voted to enact a spending bill that will strip close to one trillion dollars from federal Medicaid funding across a...

04.07.2025 50

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

“Sinners” Is Bringing Black American Sign Language to the Mainstream

Ryan Coogler’s Sinners will be the first movie on a streaming platform that will also be available in Black American Sign Language at the time of...

01.07.2025 3

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

Senate Votes to Cut $930 Billion From Medicaid

On Tuesday, Senate Republicans passed President Donald Trump’s intensely contested budget bill for the coming fiscal year, returning it to the House...

01.07.2025 4

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

Report: New Hampshire Could Ban Funding for Programs for Disabled People

On Monday, the Boston Globe reported that the Senate version of New Hampshire’s two-year budget bill contains language that “would prohibit public...

17.06.2025 50

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

The Department of Energy Is Quietly Slashing Disability Rights

In May, the Department of Energy quietly introduced a proposal to eliminate its longstanding requirement that new buildings receiving funds from the...

13.06.2025 4

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

SCOTUS’ Conservative Majority Rules in Favor of Disability Rights

On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Ava Tharpe, the plaintiff in A.J.T. v. Osseo Area Schools, a notable education and...

12.06.2025 30

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

Trump’s Tariffs Will Drive Up PPE Costs, But Organizers Are Ready

With the impact of Donald Trump’s bevy of tariffs on foreign goods—including Covid protective gear—around the corner, Covid Safe Colorado knew...

10.06.2025 30

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

FDA to Cut Covid Booster Access, Excluding In-Home Carers

On Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration announced that Covid booster shots will be limited to people over 65 and those with pre-existing health...

21.05.2025 20

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

25 Arrested While Protesting GOP Medicaid Cuts

Within the first few minutes of Tuesday’s House Committee on Energy and Commerce hearing on planned Republican Medicaid cuts—which would render...

14.05.2025 100

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

24-Hour Vigil to Save Medicaid Takes Over National Mall

At a 24-hour vigil to protect Medicaid on the National Mall in Washington, DC, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) was to the point: to protect democracy,...

08.05.2025 30

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

The Case That Could Gut Disabled People’s Right to Equal Health Care

For decades, American hospitals have been subject to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and to the Americans with Disabilities Act, landmark...

07.05.2025 5

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

Florida Man Loses Canadian Election

Preliminary results projected by CBC in Canada’s snap federal election, which took place Monday, suggest that the country’s Liberal Party—which...

29.04.2025 20

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

Disability Protection Groups in Two States Pause Services After Missing Federal Funds

State organizations that advocate for disabled residents in New Jersey and Arkansas announced this week that they will have to limit their work due to...

27.04.2025 30

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

Trump’s Latest Deportation Tear Includes a 2-Year-Old and a Kid With Cancer

On Friday morning, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials in New Orleans deported members of two families, including young children and a...

26.04.2025 4

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

Democrats Launch Inquiry Into Dismantling of Administration for Community Living

On Thursday, House Reps. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) and Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.) introduced a formal inquiry demanding more information from Health and...

24.04.2025 3

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

HHS Plans to Cut Funds Used to Investigate Abuse at Group Homes

On Wednesday, a leaked draft Health and Human Services budget document revealed, among other sweeping cuts to health- and disability-related services,...

22.04.2025 30

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

Tariffs Are About to Hit Lifesaving Medical Equipment

For millions of disabled people, essential health devices known as durable medical equipment, or DME—think of CPAP machines or in-home dialysis...

18.04.2025 8

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

RFK Jr. Says There Are No Autistic Poets. We Asked an Autistic Poet.

To Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—and contrary to medical consensus and decades of study—autism is an appalling,...

18.04.2025 200

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

How to Call Congress—When the Phone Isn’t an Option

As someone who is deaf, Sara Nović says, “the phone has long been my nemesis.”  Nović, an organizer and author of the novel True Biz, has tried...

16.04.2025 5

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

In First Post-Presidency Speech, Biden Calls to Treat Disabled People With Dignity

On Tuesday, former President Joe Biden gave his first public speech following the end of his presidency in January, at the Chicago national conference...

16.04.2025 20

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

Veterans Affairs Backtracked on His Cancer Treatment. He Blames DOGE.

In February, after Donald Trump returned to office, Army veteran Mark Puhl’s medical requests to the Department of Veterans Affairs—for surgery...

10.04.2025 6

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

For Some Disabled Protestors, “Hands Off” Went Virtual

At a Hands Off rally for people with Long Covid, Amanda Finley was filled with emotions. She talked about how devastated she was to lose people who...

06.04.2025 70

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

RFK Jr.’s HHS Just Dismantled a Center Focused on Efficiency

On Tuesday, in a series of emails sent at 5 a.m. Eastern Time, all employees—around 20—of the federal Administration for Community Living’s...

02.04.2025 20

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

RFK Jr. Moves to Close Administration For Community Living

On Thursday, the federal Department of Health and Human Services moved, through a department-wide restructuring order, to eliminate the Administration...

28.03.2025 4

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux

Republicans Do Care About Disability—When a Democrat Screws Up

On March 22, at a Human Rights Campaign gala in Los Angeles, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Tex.) made remarks referring to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who uses...

26.03.2025 20

Mother Jones

Julia Métraux