Politics

Anyone who knows me knows I am not into politics at all.  Seriously - I don't even know if the elephant or the donkey is the symbol for the Republican party.  It's not that I do not care.  It's really just that it's so much to understand and I just don't get it most of the time.  But when it hits close to home, I really try hard to understand how it all works.

Last week on the heels of CHD Awareness Week, a friend posted a link on Facebook about pulse oximetry testing in North Carolina.  I immediately followed the link and it took me to the NC General Assembly website to read about House Bill 105 - Require Pulse Oximetry Newborn Screening.  Here is the link in case you want to read the entire bill - it's only 1 1/2 pages.

http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2013&BillID=h105

My immediate reaction was YES!  They are finally realizing they need to require the pulse ox test for ALL newborns to screen for undetected congenital heart defects in NC!  This is huge.  So, then my next thought was how can I let these people know how important this bill is?

I texted the link to Beth and Robing (Ryland's aunt and mom) and they seemed as excited as I was.  Beth told me to click on the link to find out who represents us and so I did.  I found out who our Representative in the NC House is and who our representative in the NC Senate is also.  Then I sat down to try to write a very condensed version of what I would want to say to these folks to convince them to see the light and to vote for this bill.  I emailed both of our representatives tonight and hope they will read our letter with understanding.  I also included the video link from the news story done on Claire and Ryland in hopes if they could put a face to the story then it would hit home easier.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that this bill passes with flying colors!  I have no idea about how long the process takes or what this bill has to go through to be passed.  But if you feel compelled, please write to your representatives in NC and let them know how important this is to all babies.  Help save families from having to deal with heartache or loss just because a heart defect was undetected and untreated.  If you do write to your representatives, you are more than welcome to tell them about Claire.  And please let us know if you do!  We would love to keep a tally on who was contacted so we can see how they vote on the bill.  It might just determine who I vote for in the future.

Love,
The Scott Family