Trisomy 22 and Misc. 22 Interest Board: MISSing Angels Bill

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MISSing Angels Bill - N.M. Need you assistance

Posted by Leslie on 4/8/2007, 4:09 pm
72.208.97.201

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson Stuns Tens-of Thousands of Bereaved
Parents and Vetoes the MISSing Angels Bill
Parents nationwide outraged at indifference and ignorance!
Albuquerque, NM. (April 7, 2007)--- Just last month, the New Mexico MISSing
Angels Bill (SB17), passed the New Mexico legislature with unanimous,
bipartisan support. Yet, today, April 7, 2007, presidential hopeful and
Governor Bill Richardson vetoed this important piece of legislation, making
New Mexico the first of nearly 30 states to reject the will of its citizens
and legislators regarding the way in which the birth of a stillborn baby is
recognized and recorded.
The MISSing Angels Bill (SB17) was created to help provide much-needed
comfort, dignity, and legal documentation to women and their families
experiencing the death of a baby just prior to or during birth. Currently,
New Mexico law requires reporting of stillbirth/fetal deaths and demands
that families pay funeral costs for their deceased baby, yet provides no
acknowledgement that the baby was born. “It’s an unthinkable tragedy,” says
Carin Dhouadi, New Mexico resident and constituent. “I gave birth to a full
term baby who died, and the state says I must bury her. But they won’t say
she was born? How can you die if you never were?”
Joanne Cacciatore, CEO of the MISS Foundation and a PhD Candidate who
studies stillbirth, passed the first bill in Arizona in 2001, and has worked
to pass it in other states since. She says that families around the nation
are outraged at Richardson’s move. “Richardson has just flippantly driven a
stake through the heart of this legislation that addresses the ultimate
woman’s issue…Women give birth. And their babies- about one in 100- are
dying as a result of stillbirth. He’s perpetuating the ignorance,” she says.
The change might not seem significant to many. However, to those who have
experienced the anguish of losing a baby – SB17 is an important step in
allowing grieving parents the same respect given to the woman leaving the
hospital with a healthy infant in her arms. “This bill had support from
everyone, including pro-choice legislators like Representatives Gail Chasey
and Mimi Stewart, who understand this as an important woman’s issue,” said
Halo Golden, volunteer lobbyist for the NM bill and the mother of a
stillborn baby. Richard Olsen of the National Stillbirth Society believes
that this move was ‘political pandering’, stating that the “governor’s veto
is an insensitive act that marginalizes women and ignores the interests of
his own constituents in favor of his presidential aspirations.”
Cacciatore agrees, saying, “Richardson just vetoed a critical woman’s issue,
for no sound reason, and with unilateral authority…Is this the type of
person we can trust to represent women’s interests across America?
Richardson won’t get the votes of hundreds of thousands of our grieving
parents across the country…The vetoing of this bill is a ham handed
misjudgment on the governor’s part.”
“He clearly doesn’t understand this bill, and didn’t take the time to inform
himself. It’s shameful. He’s slapped grieving mothers and father in the
face, not just in New Mexico, but across the country,” says Daryl Logullo,
National Legislative Liaison for the MISS Foundation. “He owes them, and the
people of the state, an immediate apology and a commitment to this important
law that parents dearly want.”
Approximately 30,000 babies are stillborn each year in the United States.
The cause of death for more than half the number of full-term (40-week)
stillbirths is unknown, even after autopsy.
The MISS Foundation and the National Stillbirth Society are getting ready to
launch an awareness campaign targeted at educating the governor so he wholly
understands the issue. The organizations are also calling for the governor
to request a special session to address it and issue an apology to bereaved
parents whose babies were stillborn. For more information on the MISSing
Angels Bill visit www.missingangelsbill.org or www.missfoundation.org.
How can you help?
EMAIL and CALL GOVERNOR RICHARDSON and tell him he's lost the vote of
thousands of families across the nation! Tell him he's made a very bad
choice! Urge him to call a special session and APOLOGIZE to parents of
stillborn babies!
info@richardsonforpresident.com
Call and fax:
PHONE: 505-982-2291
FAX: 505-982-3652