Marta Russell was an American writer and disability rights activist born on this day in 1951. Her book, "Beyond Ramps: Disability at the End of the Social Contract published in 1998" analyzes the relationship between disability, social Darwinism, and economic austerity under capitalism.

Her political views, which she described as "left, not liberal", informed her writing on topics such as healthcare, the prison-industrial complex, physician-assisted suicide, poverty, ableism, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

"There is no Death with Dignity when people choose to die because health care economics and the social services system prevent life with dignity."

- Marta Russell