The Americans with Disabilities Act: An ethical perspective as the law develops

It has been 5 years since one of the most important civil rights laws was enacted. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), signed into law on July 26, 1990, was passed to give individuals with disabilities the 'opportunity to compete on an equal basis and to pursue those opportunities for which our free society is justifiably famous…' Because the discrimination faced by people with disabilities is unique in many aspects, the Act is comprehensive and detailed. The obligation not to discriminate against individuals with disabilities, as with people from other minority groups, is placed on society. As a result of these precepts, and the specific measures they entail, the ADA has become the subject of heated debate. The role of government in enacting this type of legislation is questioned as are many aspects of the act itself. The authors of this piece debate the legitimacy of the ADA from an ethical perspective. In addition, they evaluate the values inherent in some of the cases that have come down under the ADA. They conclude that the Act was structured to balance competing interests in order to ensure that the rights of people with disabilities are an important factor in societal decision-making.