Tasha Nelson is a disability rights activist. | Voting is so important to me and my family. It is life-and-death. The people who represent us vote on laws that directly affect our life span, access to care, access to education and access to community. Because of the combination of our voting system and the coronavirus pandemic, for the first time in my life, I am terrified to vote.
I should not have to choose between exercising my right to vote and my health.
I am a 39-year-old mother of five who until four years ago was in perfect health, or so I thought. Soon after my twins were born in 2016, my mother found me unconscious in a parking lot at work. The day-to-day activities of my life were about to change significantly. I’d have episodes of speech loss and facial numbness. I was diagnosed with a horrible and painful rash. On any given day I could be in an ambulance on my way to the hospital. I went to the emergency room more times than I can count. I had $37,000 worth of testing done by my doctors over a two-week period. We were desperate to find the cause. I saw so many doctors and specialists, it was dizzying, until finally a rheumatologist diagnosed me with Behcet’s disease.
Behcet’s is an extremely rare disease that affects both the large and small vessels of the vascular system. There is no cure. We manage my flares with many medications and immune-system suppression. I have used steroids and chemotherapies. In a few weeks, I will start a biologic medication. These therapies are scary, debilitating and expensive, but they keep me alive. My husband and children need me to remain in the best possible health; they need me alive.
My husband and I have an 8-year-old son who is at high risk for the novel coronavirus because he lives with cystic fibrosis, a rare and potentially fatal disease that affects all his major organs, including his lungs. Our twins are 4 years old; we have a daughter in heaven who would be 2, and an 11-month-old son. We have a joyful and busy house!
Voting is so important to me and my family. It is life-and-death. The people who represent us vote on laws that directly affect our life span, access to care, access to education and access to community. Because of the combination of our voting system and the coronavirus pandemic, for the first time in my life, I am terrified to vote. To vote I must quite literally put my life at risk. This is wrong and needs to be fixed. My condition is rare, but there are countless more Virginians with disabilities or preexisting conditions facing the same challenges that my family is. Virginia now has no-excuse absentee voting and limited early voting, but it should make more accommodations.
The Washington Post – Read More