May 5-6: National Call-In Days to Honor Moms' Work for Healthy Families
Clean your room. Eat your vegetables. Wash behind your ears. Stand up straight.
I'm grateful for my mom's good health advice, and if your mom is anything like mine, I bet she goes to great lengths to make sure you are staying healthy. Yet, even with years of training, admonition, and prayer, toxic chemicals' trespass on our homes can undermine our mothers' best efforts to keep our families healthy. Everyday products such as cleaning supplies, toys, food packaging, and furniture contain toxic chemicals that get into our bodies.
In fact, despite pregnant mothers' best efforts to abstain from potentially harmful foods, drinks, and activities, we know toxic chemicals trespass on 99 percent of mothers' wombs and breastmilk.1 These chemicals are linked to an array of health problems, including pre-term delivery, miscarriage, birth defects, developmental disabilities, pre-disposition to diabetes, uterine fibroids, endometriosis, and breast cancer.
Honor Thy Mother. Please call your Senators Thursday, May 5 or Friday, May 6 and ask for comprehensive chemical policy reform that upholds our mothers' efforts to keep our families healthy. See call-in details and the Senator that you should reach out to below.
With Faith in a Healthier Future,
Shantha
Call in number: 1-888-784-0527 (Note: This number will take you to the Capitol Switchboard. You will have to ask an operator to connect you to your senator's office.)
Call Script: “Can I please be connected with (name of Senator - see list below) office?” (This may take a moment.)
Once you are connected with that office: “Hi, I'd like to leave a message about chemical policy for the Senator.” Once you reach the staffer or a voice mail, say:
“Hi my name is_______ and I am from _____ (city, state). As a person of faith, I am concerned that toxic chemicals in everyday products can undermine our health, harm God's Creation, and put vulnerable communities more at risk. Dangerous chemicals have been found in the bloodstreams of 99 percent of pregnant mothers. I ask that you help reform our nation's chemical policy to help protect all mothers, children, and vulnerable communities.”
Note: If you have time to call both your Senators, please do so. If you only have time to make one call, please prioritize calling the Senator listed below. If you are unable to talk to anyone or leave a message, it is best to try back later. You can also send an email by adapting the message in the above call script to fit your own story, then putting it into a web form here. If you would like learn more about the national chemical policy reform bill introduced in the Senate in April, you can look it up at thomas.gov under S.847 or find the full text here.
Who to Ask for, by State:
AK - Mark Begich
AL - Jeff Sessions
AR - John Boozman
AZ - Jon Kyl
CA - Barbara Boxer (Barbara Boxer has co-sponsored chemical policy reform legislation. She is the chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, so please thank her for her leadership on this issue and encourage her to continued prioritization of chemical policy reform with an emphasis on protecting vulnerable communities.)
CO - Michael F. Bennet
CT - Richard Blumenthal
DE - Thomas R. Carper
FL - Bill Nelson
GA - Johnny Isakson
HI - Daniel K. Akaka
IA - Tom Harkin
ID - Mike Crapo
IL - Mark Kirk
IN - Richard G. Lugar
KS - Jerry Moran
KY - Mitch McConnell
LA - Mary Landrieu
MA - Scott Brown
MD - Benjamin L. Cardin
ME - Olympia Snowe
MI - Debbie Stabenow
MN - Amy Klobuchar & Al Franken are both co-sponsoring national chemical policy reform. If you call, you can say thanks for their leadership on this issue and request them to continue prioritizing it this Congress, putting emphasis on protecting the most vulnerable.
MO - Roy Blunt
MS - Thad Cochran
MT - Max Baucus
NC - Kay R. Hagan
ND - Kent Conrad
NE - Mike Johans
NH - Kelly Ayotte
NJ - Robert Menendez (Senator Lautenberg introduced the chemical policy reform legislation. If you call him, you can thank him for his leadership. New Jersey has more superfund sites than any other state. This issue is a top priority for him.)
NM - Tom Udall
NV - John Ensign
NY - Kirsten E. Gillibrand
OH - Rob Portman
OK - James M. Inhofe
OR - Jeff Merkley
PA - Robert P. Casey, Jr.
RI - Sheldon Whitehouse
SC- Lindsey Graham
SD - John Thune
TN - Lamar Alexander
TX - Kay Bailey Hutchison
UT - Orrin G. Hatch
VA - Jim Webb
VT - Bernard Sanders
WA - Maria Cantwell
WI - Herb Kohl
WV - John D. Rockefeller
WY - John Barrasso
1 Environmental Chemicals in Pregnant Women in the U.S.: NHANES 2003-2004
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