Britney Spears shared her shocking testimony to Judge Brenda Penny in a Los Angeles court hearing on Wednesday
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)After Britney Spears’ powerful testimony detailing how restrictive her conservatorship is, disability campaigners say she is not alone in her experience.
Imani Barbarin, a disability rights and inclusion activist, said: “I hate the way non-disabled people gaslight disabled people about Britney Spears’ situation because guardianship and conservatorship is not unique.”
In a video posted to Twitter on Wednesday, she agreed that Spears’ claims are “horrific but again, it’s not unique” for disabled people.
I don’t like the gaslighting that goes on when disabled people tell y’all that what’s happening with #FreeBritney is not at all unique.
— Imani Barbarin, MAGC | Crutches&Spice ♿️ (@Imani_Barbarin) June 24, 2021
You just have a hierarchy of disability and a point at which you think someone is “too disabled” to care about. pic.twitter.com/Cj5pqLaGAT
“This is something that disabled people are scared of all the time,” she added.
“Because there are instances in which disabled people will ask the wrong question to the wrong person, and wound up in a conservatorship or guardianship.”
Around 1.3 million adults across America are affected by guardianship or conservatorship, according to a 2018 report by the National Council on Disability.
In her court testimony on Wednesday, the 39-year-old pop star described the conservatorship as “abusive.”
She detailed how she was implanted with an IUD against her will to stop her from having children.
“I want to be able to get married and have a baby,” Spears said.
“I was told right now in the conservatorship I am not able to get married or have a baby.”
Spears told the court that she wants her IUD removed so she could “start trying to have another baby, but this so-called team won’t let me go to the doctor to take it out because they don’t want me to have children, any more children.”
Planned Parenthood has backed Spears and say forced IUD is “reproductive coercion.”
Disabled people also face the reality of not having autonomy over their bodies.
As a result of a 1927 US Supreme Court decision in Buck v Bell, it is legal for the state to forcibly sterilise disabled people “for the protection and health of the state.”
Spears is legally classed as disabled.
Other disability activists and Britney fans have also taken to social media to share similar sentiments as Barbarin.
As always, it's important to remember that #FreeBritney is a disability rights issue. If the state can do this to one of the most influential pop stars in my lifetime, think about what it can do to others. Read @slooterman https://t.co/NEaFW36AOh
— Eric Michael Garcia (@EricMGarcia) June 23, 2021
Britney Spears’ comment about her IUD cuts so deep. There is such a long history of reproductive coercion targeting people deemed ‘unfit’ and doctors routinely recommend IUDs for ‘incompetent' cis women and girls.
— s. e. smith (@sesmith) June 23, 2021
the issue isn’t just that adults failed Britney, it’s that the world fails and undervalues disabled people to the extent it has come up w/ conservatorship as a legal framework to strip us of personhood. per @slooterman #FreeBritney https://t.co/Ddk9Yp64Xc https://t.co/E3xSbue802
— Kati 🧈♿️🥀 (FUNDRAISER PINNED) (@katimcf) June 23, 2021
In 1924, in an infamous case called Buck v. Bell, the Supreme Court held that it was lawful to forcibly sterilize disabled people. https://t.co/OK0Ed4BiCy
— Matthew Cortland, Esq (@mattbc) June 24, 2021
Sooo are we going to acknowledge that Britney Spears’ conservatorship is a disability rights issue or are y'all not ready for that conversation?
— Marilyn Melissa Salguero (@_Miss_Marilyn) June 24, 2021
One Request: that we use this moment to see disability rights as a mainstream issue, not because it is Britney Spears but b.c. disability issues underscore so much of what we teach crim to torts...& b.c. there are more than 61 million adults w/disabilities who are the mainstream.
— Jasmine E Harris (@Jeharrislaw) June 24, 2021
Just swinging by to note that the Britney Spears case highlights a reality many disabled people face with choices and decisions taken out of our hands "for our own good". So it is deeply troubling and also a disability rights issue (including the part on reproductive rights).
— Sio and Tell (@Sio_and_Tell) June 24, 2021
For nearly 13 years, Spears has been locked in a conservatorship led by her father, Jamie who has control over her life and her $60 million net worth.
She was put in conservatorship, after her public mental health crisis in 2008. The conservatorship is split into two parts - her estate and her financial affairs.
Her father controlled both areas up until 2019 when he had to step down from one of the areas due to health reasons but still retains 50 per cent control.
Jodi Montgomery, a care professional has replaced him on a temporary basis but Spears has requested this be made permanent.
Many are hoping that Spears’ story will push the disability rights movement forward.
God I hope this is real. If Britney Spears makes fighting guardianship/conservatorship in general her thing, it would be completely game-changing for the disability rights movement. https://t.co/9PZoms7aFs
— Sara Luterman (@slooterman) June 23, 2021
People are learning (and becoming outraged) about conservatorships, and disability rights more broadly, through the highly visible Britney Spears case. So this #FreeBritney movement is an unfortunate opportunity much larger than her or her fandom.
— Dana White (@ItsDanaWhite) June 25, 2021
I truly hope Britney Spears is given her freedom and time and space to heal. I also hope her case shines a light on disability rights movements because so many people are in her same situation and it’s horrible.
— Vanessa North 💖💜💙 (@byVanessaNorth) June 24, 2021
