When Mary Marslender's daughter was born with cystic fibrosis, she had no idea it would launch her into a decade of advocacy — from stalking the FDA website for a breakthrough drug to serving on the National Council on Disability under President Trump and the Virginia Board for People with Disabilities under Governor Youngkin.

In this episode of Able Voices, Mary opens up about:

🔹 How a "miracle" drug, Trikafta, transformed her daughter's life — and why so many families overseas can't access the same treatment
🔹 What QALY (Quality-Adjusted Life Years) is, and how this hidden metric is used by government-run health systems to ration care for the sick, elderly, and disabled
🔹 Why free markets and innovation — not centralized bureaucracy — are what actually save lives
🔹 Her message to every parent and advocate: your voice matters, even when you're the only one in the room willing to use it

This is a conversation about courage, faith, and the fight to make sure every life — no matter its "quality adjusted" score — is treated as worthy.

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🔗 Learn more about our work at ableamericans.us

In this episode, we sit down with Ella — known online as The Disapologist — a Christian apologist and disability advocate who's carving out a distinct voice in a policy space and disability space.

Drawing on her own experience living with a disability and navigating SSDI, Ella unpacks why she believes true interdependence — not government dependency — is the path to dignity and empowerment.

She digs into hard topics: benefits cliffs that punish work, the push for government-run healthcare, and the growing acceptance of assisted dying within disability policy circles.

Ella also opens up about the pushback she's faced for holding pro-life, faith-rooted views that challenge assumptions about what "disability rights" should mean — and makes the case for why a free-market, individual-empowerment approach can offer disabled Americans more freedom, not less.

A candid conversation about faith, autonomy, and what dignity really requires from public policy.

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