Implant Protest

Some in the deaf community want Wisconsin’s governor to veto a cochlear implant bill. The state legislature passed the measure that would make Wisconsin the first state requiring insurance companies to foot the bill for children to get cochlear implants.

Nearly 500 people have signed a petition saying the implants are dangerous and a threaten deaf culture. It reads in part:

“The notion that being Deaf is an affliction and an abomination which alienates
one from society and leaves the dependent and isolated is a myth and rooted in
audism.”

A group of protestors will try to give Governor Jim Doyle the petition today. Here’s an online version.