For years, ASAN and our allies have been working to stop the electric skin shock torture being used on some residents of the Judge Rotenberg Center. We have another chance RIGHT NOW to stop this for good! Read on to learn more about the issue and how YOU can take action.
Background
The Judge Rotenberg Center (JRC) is an institution in Massachusetts. People with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), mental health disabilities, and learning disabilities live there. Both kids and adults live at the JRC. Many autistic people live there.
Some people at the JRC are forced to wear an electric shock device. This device is used to punish the person wearing it. The device punishes people by giving them electric shocks. These electric shocks are very painful. The JRC shocks people for small things like refusing to take off their jackets or stimming.
People with disabilities and our allies have been fighting to stop the JRC. We want to stop people at the JRC from getting shocked. We’ve been working together to try to stop the JRC for more than 10 years. We call our campaign #StopTheShock.
What’s Happening Right Now?
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is a federal government agency. They are in charge of making sure food and medicine are safe. They are also in charge of medical devices. That means the FDA is in charge of the electric shock devices.
To ban electric shock devices, the FDA must make a rule. A rule tells people what they are allowed to do. It also tells people what they are not allowed to do. The FDA just put out a proposed rule. A proposed rule is an idea or draft of a rule. That means people don’t have to follow the rule yet. They only have to follow the rule if it gets passed.
The FDA is asking for public comments on the proposed rule. Public comments are a way for people to share ideas with the government. Public comments let the government know what everyday people think about a rule or law.
The FDA wants to know what people think of their proposed rule. We must tell the FDA that we want them to pass the rule. We want the FDA to ban electric shock devices.
How Can I Take Action?
The best way for people to help #StopTheShock is to submit a public comment to the FDA. We made a plain language toolkit that shows you how to write and submit a public comment. The toolkit goes over what you should include in your comment.
Anyone can submit a public comment! Public comments do not need to be long or complicated. The FDA wants to hear what everyday people think about the proposed rule to ban electric skin shock devices. Even if you have never written a public comment before, our plain language toolkit will tell you everything you need to know.
Once you have written your public comment, you can submit it here.
After the FDA reads and reviews all the public comments, it will decide whether or not to issue the proposed rule, which means people would have to follow it. We will keep you updated on what happens once the FDA makes a decision. Thank you for taking action to #StopTheShock!