Using Science to Defend the Disabled

Bobby Schindler needed help two years ago when his disabled sister Terri Schiavo was forced into starvation. "Terri wasn't dying," Schindler said. "She was merely being sustained by food and water. But, as we all know, that was taken away from her and she was put to death. I often refer to it as a lethal bigotry." Now, Regent University is working to fill in the gap. Watch CBN News Medical reporter Gailon Totheroh's report University leaders have launched a new effort to research everything from disabilities to cloning and stem cells. The Institute for the Study of Disability and Bioethics recently held a panel discussion on the disabled at the university's main campus in Virginia Beach, Va. Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell was a member of one panel, which also included former United States Attorney General John Ashcroft. "Science is moving at such an incredible speed and I think we all know that everything that is possible is not something we ought to do," McDonnell told the assembled audience. The Institute hopes to help defend the 40 million disabled persons in the U.S. and the 100 million in Africa. "The costliest of errors that a culture can make is the undervaluing of the capacity of the individuals who comprise that culture," Ashcroft said. Contributions to Society "We underestimate the nature and scope of what those with disabilities can contribute to society," attorney Jay Sekulow told the audience. "Because, who in this room doesn't have a disability of their own?" "The whole issue of dealing with people with disabilities across the lifespan from pre-born through old age is one that will increasingly impact our society in the years to come," Institute co-director Mark Mostert said. Institute co-director Kelly Hollowell says we need more than knowledge about the disabled. We as a society need to have courage. " --We need-- courage to look them in the eye and say, 'You count as much as I do and I will go to the mat for you to make sure that everybody around here knows it," Hollowell said.