The ADA Is Turning 35—And It’s in Trump’s Crosshairs

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Tony Coelho, the Americans with Disabilities Act’s main author, sees a new wave of threats looming for disability rights.

On July 26, 1990, then-President George H. W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law. The bill’s primary author was former Democratic House Rep. Tony Coelho of California, who was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 22. The ADA’s passage, which disability rights demonstrations like the Capitol Crawl contributed to, exemplified an era of more bipartisan efforts to push civil rights forward.

Testifying before the House in support of the ADA, in 1988, Coelho said it was “time that our government recognized our abilities and gave us the dignity to do what we can do.” Living with epilepsy was not easy for Coelho, who “became suicidal and drunk by noon” in part due to challenges in finding a job after he revealed his diagnosis. Coehlo had already been barred from studying to become a Catholic priest due to his disability, which was diagnosed during a medical exam required of applicants to the priesthood.

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