To the editor:
Thank you, Congressman Luke Messer, for recently joining together with more than 100 of your colleagues in the House to co-sponsor important legislation that will help save the lives of mothers and children everywhere.
RESULTS volunteer advocates, as well as mothers and children across the nation, appreciate your support of the bipartisan Reach Every Mother and Child Act. This legislation, also known simply as the Reach Act, aims to end preventable maternal and child deaths by 2035, and among our elected officials in Indiana, it was also co-sponsored by Reps. Andre Carson and Susan Brooks.
Why is this sort of legislation necessary? It is of the utmost importance because nearly 6 million children die before turning 5 years old every year, and what makes this even worse is the fact that most of these health care-related deaths are from causes that are preventable.
It’s time that we as a society stop saying goodbye to our children. This is why it is wonderful as well as important to have strong leadership on this matter in both the House and the Senate.
Currently in Indiana, neither of our senators have co-sponsored this extremely important legislation, and while it is great that we have three amazing champions in the House co-sponsoring it, it would be even better if we could have all of our elected officials standing together in co-sponsorship of this crucial legislation.
That is why I am asking you to reach out to them and share with them why this is important to you as well as to mothers and children everywhere.
In addition to Sens. Dan Coats and Joe Donnelly, Reps. Peter Visclosky, Jackie Walorski, Marlin Stutzman, Todd Rokita, Larry Buchson and Todd Young need to hear from you, their constituents. They need to hear how this legislation will enshrine critical reforms into law so that the U.S. Agency for International Development, our main development agency, is more efficient and effective.
They also need to know that the Reach Act (Senate Bill 1911) introduced in the U.S. Senate and its companion bill in the House (House Bill 3706) can accomplish this at no extra cost to us as taxpayers.
It’s time to put an end to preventable maternal and child deaths. We have the power to do this. Please urge your public officials to co-sponsor the Reach Act and vote to ensure that every child in the world has the same chance to grow and thrive. We all deserve a healthy shot at life!
Matthew Pope
Greenfield
