Mother’s Act Letter
Here’s a correspondence between a health freedom advocate and her Congressman, Chris Cannon. Once she sent her comment to ask him to oppose the dangerous and unwise "Mothers’ Act" which mandates screening and possible medication for pregnant women and nursing or other new mothers with drugs that can be dangerous to the baby AND to the mother, she got a letter back from the Congressman. But she did not stop there. She wrote a well reasoned and cogent letter back to him telling him about her concerns.
Here’s a letter I got from US Rep Chris Cannon and then I followed up with a response.
April 7, 2008
Siska DeYoung
(address deleted – webmaster),
UT 84648
Dear Siska:
Thank you for taking the time to contact me. I appreciate your concern and efforts on an issue that is important to you. I am encouraged to see citizens, like you, take an interest and action in the political process.
The Melanie Blocker-Stokes Postpartum Depression Research and Care Act (H.R. 20) also known as the Mother’s Act, deals with the serious concern and welfare of women suffering from postpartum depression and psychosis. Postpartum depression is a real disorder which can have a severe effect on a mother and subsequently her family and relationships. The circumstances of postpartum depression are complex and often go too long without treatment. The Mother’s Act promotes the use of research for the discovery of causes and treatments of postpartum depression.
The intent of the act is honorable as it seeks to aid those who do and will suffer from postpartum depression. This is why I have voted in favor of this act. The bill was successfully passed by a vote of 382-3. I am hopeful that this bill will aid and provide treatment to suffering mothers.
Again, thank you for contacting my regarding this issue. If you have further concerns please visit my website www.chriscannon.house.gov.
Sincerely,
Chris Cannon
Member of Congress
My response:
Honorable Chris Cannon,
I thank you for your reply back in response to my concerns with the Mother’s Act.
It is good to know that you are concerned with the welfare of mothers and desire to help where you can.
However, unlike you, I do not believe that the Mother’s Act’s intentions are as honorable as you say. To me, this act is full of misrepresentation of facts and is just another pill pusher causing new mothers and their babies to become that new market for pharmaceutical companies. Also there is no clause that the mothers must be informed of the dangerous side effects drugs have on them and their unborn babies.
As sad as post-partum depression is for the mothers and their families, the fact remains that no one truly knows if a woman is going to have this depression for sure or not until after their baby is born. And even then, the list of drugs approved for this bill do more harm than good. Most of those psychotropic drugs cause serious and dangerous side effects including hallucinations, suicidal and homicidal thoughts and tendencies, and a whole array of other side effects.
Another thing is that I do not believe that there is “care” in health care anymore as doctors no longer take the time to truly sit down with their patients and find out what really is the problem. And when they make mistakes, they are not usually likely to admit to their faults. After all, they spent many years to get where they are in school and residential training. So they spend as much as one or two minutes before automatically prescribing a drug that eventually makes the situation worse for the mothers.
Yes, mothers are naturally emotional during pregnancy and afterwards, but that is mostly because hormones are run high as we are creating new bodies for new people. If you really want to help mothers with this, the best way to go would be preventive maintenance in offering classes on good and sound nutrition and exercise so that their babies may obtain everything they need to grow. When the baby has what it needs then the mother is less likely to suffer from post partum depression or even other accompanying effects of pregnancy so often found such as toxemia.
Honorable Chris Cannon, I have known you in the past and have known you to make many good decisions in the past, but this I respectfully disagree whole-heartily.
I do not believe that it is anywhere in the U.S. Constitution that the Federal Government should be responsible for the health of the citizens of this nation. That is a folly to me. There is nothing conservative of the Federal Government trying to enforce their ideas or notions of how healthcare should be handled, or provide this kind of social service.
I do hope that you will reconsider your stance on what a Federal Government should or should not be allowed to do.
Thank you kindly,
Siska DeYoung
