Orlando Sentinel Weds October 9, 1991

Photo by Joe Burbank/Sentinel: Elizabeth Dole standing at a podium smiling broadly, and beind her on a huge screen is a reversed picture of her smiling.
Caption reads: Like Elizabeth Dole, ADAPT members had their say at civic center.

Title: Protesters testify outside convention
by Mary Brooks, of the Sentinel Staff

Disabled activists talked of being beaten and coerced into abortion as they continued their protest Tuesday outside a convention of the nursing home industry.

While about 100 members of ADAPT — Americans Disabled for Attendant Programs -— gave testimonials outside the Orange County Convention and Civic Center, 73 of their colleagues who had been arrested in protests Sunday and Monday were preparing to be released early from the Orange County Jail. Two of the protesters were released Monday night.

The group has been demonstrating before the annual convention of the American Health Care Association, which represents nursing home operators.

ADAPT members say they want a fourth of the $23 billion Medicaid is spending on nursing homes and other institutions to go toward programs so people can get the help they need at home.

Some of the protesters — many disabled by cerebral palsy or auto wrecks -— related the degradation they said they experienced in health institutions.

Perhaps the most moving story came from Theresa Monroe, 30, of Atlanta, who said she was coerced into having an abortion when she was five months pregnant.

“I was 18 and I fell in love and got pregnant. They said the baby wouldn’t be ‘right’ and that I had to have an abortion. I didn’t know what an abortion was," said Monroe, who spent four years in an institution.

The protesters rallied in front of the Peabody Hotel and the convention center on International Drive.

By 7 p.m., all of the protesters had been released from jail. They had said they would not post bail that had been set at $1,000 apiece, and jail officials had said they would not be released until Friday.

But attorneys for ADAPT reached an agreement with Judge Jose Rodriguez to release the protesters for time served, as long as they agreed not to try to bar the entrances of the convention. Also, those who could afford to must pay $100 within 90 days to help cover the costs of additional law enforcement.

The day's convention activities started quietly with a speech by Elizabeth Dole, president of the American National Red Cross. Deputies had expected a conflict since Dole had refused to meet with ADAPT when she was U.S. Secretary of Transportation, but protesters did not arrive until after she finished.

Dole told convention-goers that America’s graying population is prompting a new set of medical challenges, especially for people in need of long-term care.

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Author

Orlando Sentinel /Mary Brooks

Created on

Friday 12 July 2013

Posted on

Friday 9 November 2018

Tags

aging population, AHCA - American Health Care Association, at home care, beatings, coerced abortion, degradation, Elizabeth Dole Red Cross, institutions, Judge Jose Rodriguez, longtermcare, Orange County Convention and Civic Center, redirect 25%, released from jail, testamonials, Theresa Monroe

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• Orlando, fall 1991

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