Section 504 lawsuit would affect some Sheridan students

By ATTICUS CLAYTON
Sheridan High School Student

Editor’s note: The Sheridan Student Column is brought to readers by Sheridan High School’s 10th grade honors English class, taught by Tanya Busailah.

According to Fox 59 News, the Indiana state government, as well as the states of Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia are filing a lawsuit against the United States government deeming Section 504, which protects students with disabilities, unconstitutional. This has led to unrest in many of these states, including ours, which has, in turn, led to protesting.

I intend to show what will happen to certain students of Sheridan High School and throughout Indiana if their lawsuits are upheld. I know this is a politically-based subject, so I will start with only the facts and provable truths.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 states: “No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States, as defined in Section 705 of this title, shall, solely because of his or her disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance or under any program or activity conducted by any Executive agency or by the United States Postal Service.”

The controversy comes from former president Joseph R. Biden’s addition to the 504 plan to include “gender dysphoria,” which is the sense of unease one might feel about one’s biological sex assigned at birth and/or gender identity.

According to WFYI, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita says he is in “full support” of Section 504. However, he is against the additions made in May of 2024. He goes on to thank President Donald Trump for his intention to restore the 504 plan to its “original intent.” The controversy comes from the lawsuit not only deeming former President Joe Biden’s addition to the plan unconstitutional but the entire section itself with the way it is drawn. This would mean states could be able to more freely discriminate against those with disabilities, such as ADHD, asthma, diabetes, autism, etc.

While Todd Rokita says he believes these disabilities should be protected, the bill he is backing undercuts some of the basic rights given.

According to Fox 16 in Arkansas, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin echoed the beliefs of Todd Rokita, stating, “We haven’t challenged it; we’re not trying to challenge that law itself. What we’re challenging is the fact that the Biden administration said, ‘Hey! We’re going to add to what a disability is: the gender identity disorders and gender dysphoria.’”

Texas is leading the lawsuit despite having north of 400,000 students on 504 plans. According to Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana has around 12,000 total students on 504 plans. Sheridan, as well as all other schools in Indiana, would be crucially affected. School districts could deny assistance to those with disabilities and to those who desperately need help. Public schools in Indiana would have more freedom to deny any classroom assistance to said students.

The arguments supporting the new additions to the 504 plans being deemed unconstitutional are largely politically charged. Todd Rokita, Tim Griffin, the other attorneys general involved in the lawsuit, and Ken Paxton (the Attorney General of Texas) see “gender dysmorphia” as either a fake illness/handicap or one not severe enough to be protected under Section 504 acts.

The fact is, if the attorneys general of their respective states want to exclude gender dysmorphia from Section 504, then they should do it separately rather than deeming the entire section unconstitutional. The Attorney General said he believes President Donald Trump will restore the 504 plan to its original purpose, but specifics of said purpose have not been provided.

This next section is opinion-based.

The purpose of the United States of America’s government, as well as the respective state governments themselves, should be to protect the rights and the needs of their people. Abraham Lincoln once famously spoke about a “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” We cannot and should not exclude certain people from their basic protections because they are different from us or because they have what could be classified as mental or physical disabilities. The United States government needs to keep the intent of why it was formed: for freedom against oppression.

If we take away the protections for mentally, physically, or otherwise disabled children, does that not allow oppression to creep through the door we’ve kept shut with Section 504 for the past 50 years?

I ask the people in power in Indiana, the federal government, and throughout the United States of America: is protecting your political interests worth endangering the rights of children? Todd Rokita, Ken Paxton, and the 15 other respective Attorney Generals need to rethink their arguments. If they truly believe the initial Section 504 is constitutional and only the new additions are unconstitutional, then they need to rewrite the proposal or cut it altogether.

There is no halfway in people’s welfare; there never should be halfways in politics, and we should not start now.