National Action Alerts
Your help is needed - please sign up and join 1st Breath so we can keep you updated on urgent Calls To Action.
LANCET SERIES ALERT
Your help is needed - please help us get the word out about the new Lancet Series on Stillbirth. We need to make media contacts across the nation and would also like to share the papers with medical professionals as well.
LEGISLATIVE ALERT
Your help is needed - call your congressional leaders TODAY! Potential $210 million (32%) cut to the Title V Maternal & Child Health Block Grant that would impact maternal and child health and children with special healthcare needs programs in your state.
Today, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers (R-KY) released initial details of a House proposal (available here) to revise the current continuing resolution (CR) that would fund federal government through the rest of the fiscal year.
The proposal includes a $210 million cut to the Title V Maternal & Child Health Block Grant and is expected to be voted on in the House early next week.
It is absolutely imperative that your Members of Congress hear from you today about how devastating this cut would be to the maternal and child health and children with special health care needs programs in your state.
We urge you to call your elected officials today with the following message. It will only take a minute of your time, but can have a major impact on this critically needed funding.
I am calling in strong opposition to the proposed $210 million cut to the Title V MCH Block Grant included in the revised House continuing resolution. $210 million is a 32% cut to an effective, important and vital program in our state.
Cuts this deep will devastate state and local programs serving women, babies, children, and children with special health care needs in our state.
This cut is counter-productive because health issues that we don’t prevent or detect early through this program now will ultimately cost us all more later. For example, the average cost of a premature baby is $58,000; it makes no sense to cut programs that work to prevent maternal and child health issues like prematurity that will save us money in the future.
Please tell (your Representative’s/Senator’s name) that we should not balance the budget on the backs of babies and our nation’s most vulnerable.
Members of Congress need to hear from you today. They listen to constituents and it is imperative they know how these cuts will impact mothers and children in their jurisdictions.
Follow these links to identify your representatives’ names and phone numbers.
www.house.gov (by zip)
www.senate.gov (by state)
While the urgency of the situation requires immediate phone calls, you may want to follow-up with an email or fax to reiterate your point. We hope you will also share this email with everyone you know and urge them to contact their Members of Congress as well!
Please share any feedback you receive with AMCHP staff about your contacts as this will be helpful as they continue their advocacy efforts on behalf of our nation’s babies and families.
For more information, or to share feedback, please contact Joshua Brown (jrbown@amchp.org) or Brent Ewig (bewig@amchp.org) via email or at (202) 775-0436.
ALERT - Important legislation needs your help to encourage co-sponsors!
Please write, email, call or visit your Congressperson!
Thanks to the hard work of Senator Frank Lautenberg's office (D-NJ), the Stillbirth and SUID Prevention, Education and Awareness Act of 2009 has been filed in the Senate. Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr (D-NJ) has introduce the bill in the House. Representative Peter King has also filed a bill which will amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the national collection of data on stillbirths in a standadized manner. These bills will need co-sponsors in order to be successful. The more co-sponsors they have, the easier it will be to get this important legislation passed!
Please contact your US Senators and US Representative to let them knw you would like them to please sign on as a co-sponsor. Let the nation know that ALL our babies are precious.
◦Visit www.house.gov and use your zip code to directly link you to your US Representative’s website. Most US Representative's can be emailed from their website. If at all possible, please call and/or write them also.
◦Visit www.senate.gov to contact your two state Senators. Select your state in the pull-down menu at the upper right hand corner of the page and select "Go". This will usually provide links that allow you to directly email each of your Senators, or to be connected directly to your Senators’ websites. Again, if possible, please call and/or write them also.
You may read and track Senate bill S.1445 at: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d111:3:./temp/~bdwjyJ::|/bss/111search.html|
You can read and track House bill H.R.3212 at: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d111:2:./temp/~bdwjyJ::|/bss/111search.html|
You can read and track House bill H.R. 521 at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d111:1:./temp/~bdwjyJ::|/bss/111search.html|
First Candle has been kind enough to provided the following to help guide you.
sample letter: http://firstcandle.org/illuminations/lautenberg-sample-letter.html
fact sheet: http://firstcandle.org/illuminations/stillbirth.fact.sheet.pdf
State Action Alerts
The MISSing Angel Act is currently pending in New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Please contact your state legislators and tell them you want our babies births acknowledged with a Certificate of Birth Resulting in Stillbirth. Without citizens input these bills may die in committee. Please call, email, write or visit your state Representative and Senator.