The Congress

In case you were not aware, there is more to this movement than just New Mexico.

Sen. Barack Obama has introduced a bill in the Senate (S. 3142) called "Preventing Stillbirth and SUID Act of 2008." This bill calls for research funding for both stillbirth and sudden unexplained infant death. $5 million for stillbirth and the same for SUID. It also calls for a National Stillbirth Registry, the standardization of the definition of stillbirth, as well as, reporting and data collection. In addition, it calls for public health programs to increase awareness and education.

and . . .

Rep. Peter King has introduced a bill in the House (HR 5979) called "Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act of 2008." This bill actually mentions The MISSing Angels Bills being passed across the country. It even goes so far as to recommend that more states pass laws allowing for a Certificate of Birth Resulting in Stillbirth. It also calls for a National Stillbirth Registry and standardization of the definition of stillbirth and reporting and data collection. This bill also calls for a national public awareness campaign.


Intersestingly, of all of the sponsors and co-sponsors listed, the majority are democrats, and traditionally, democrats are the ones that take exception to this legislation as threatening abortion rights.

Isn't it nice to know that we finally have gotten some attention for this issue. We have the attention of the President-Elect. For that we owe a huge thank you to Dr. Joanna Cacciatore. Not only did she start this whole movement and the MISS Foundation, but she has been supportive of all of our efforts and the unique needs of each state.

Joanne, without you, none of this would have been possible. Thank you.


****WHAT CAN YOU DO?****

Contact your Senators and your Representative and tell them that you support these two bills. Tell them your story. Tell them that it is important to you and your family that these bills get passed. Tell them that it matters.

(You can find the text of each of the federal bills in the Legislation Links section of this blog.)