That... seems likely. I do think there is a *small* chance that Paul Levitz said "wait, you are going to get rid of the only non-white member of the extended bat-clan, just so you can turn Barbara back into a generic character? No."; it did happen with Quesada's attempt to kill off Dick Grayson, and I know that previous suggestions to fix Barbara's spine have been derailed by internal DC protests that a lot of disabled readers look up to/identify with her.
Mind you, I'm less than thrilled that it appears that the only way Barbara is allowed to be anything but a teenaged boy fantasy is if she stays mutilated, unlike male characters who get fixed. But if it comes down to Barbara being allowed to use her brain instead of being around mainly for ass-shots...well.