Harriet McBryde Johnson

Who was Harriet McBryde Johnson?

Harriet McBryde Johnson was an American author, attorney, and disability rights activist. She was disabled due to a neuromuscular disease and used a motorized wheelchair.

Johnson, who was born in eastern North Carolina, lived most of her life in Charleston, South Carolina. She earned a B.S. in history from Charleston Southern University, a Master's in Public Administration from the College of Charleston, and a J.D. from the University of South Carolina.

In 2002 Harriet Johnson debated Peter Singer, challenging his belief that parents ought to be able to euthanize their disabled children. "Unspeakable Conversations," Johnson's account of her encounters with Singer and the pro-euthanasia movement, was published in the New York Times Magazine in 2003. It also served as inspiration for The Thrill, a 2013 play by Judith Thompson partly based on Johnson's life.

Concerning the attention her writings about the Terri Schiavo case received by the press, she commented:

"It’s frustrating to me that it boiled down in the popular discussion to a conflict between right-to-life and right-to-die. I don’t think that’s it at all. I think that we ought to analyze the case in terms of disability discrimination."