Persons with disabilities have the same legal rights and responsibilities guaranteed all other persons by the Constitution of the United States and federal laws and by the constitution and laws of the state. An otherwise qualified person may not be excluded, by reason of having a disability, from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under, any program or activity that receives public funds. Some persons with disabilities may be unable, due to the severity of their disability, to exercise for themselves all of their rights in a meaningful way; for others modification of some or all of their rights is appropriate. The procedure used for modification of rights must contain proper legal safeguards against every form of abuse, must be based on an evaluation of the social capability of the person by qualified experts, and must be subject to periodic reviews and to the right of appeal to higher authorities.