Month: November 2018

With the election upon us, It strikes me that we are at an unusual and alarming point in our Nations political history.  And we need to respond to it at the ballot box.

We have always had vigorous political fights over candidates and policy, and that is most healthy.  But there has also been an understanding that the loser in those fights accepts the results as the will of the people. That the loser acknowledges, perhaps begrudgingly, that the winner has the right to pursue their plans for the nation. This is, of course, within the constitution and laws we all agree to operate under. Without this mutual agreement by all parties, a civil society and democratic republic can not function. Now one political party has thrown off that agreement, and the evidence is everywhere that they have no intention of abiding by it.

“Activists” have taken to the streets to berate, intimidate and often assault those with whom they disagree. They pursue leaders in the opposition party and run them out of restaurants and other public places. They disrupt and seek to shut down town halls and rallies, often resorting to violence. They seek to force those they oppose to resign from office.

The leaders in the Democratic party are silent or encourage “getting in the face” of those with whom they disagree. Those leaders themselves orchestrate disruptions of congressional hearings and hurl outrageous personal attacks on the character of nominees they are charged with vetting – as well as anyone who dares support them.

So what are we as citizens to do about this assault on our political process?  First, don’t be drawn into it. Maintain your sanity and civility while those around you have lost it.  But secondly we must use this very political process to soundly defeat the destructive tactic of intimidation. The party that fosters it must not be rewarded with political power. We can not allow our right to self determination to be over ridden by shear force.

I hope and pray this message will be sent loud and clear Nov. 6^th. This election, I can not vote for any candidate for any office that is a member of a party that does these things – even if that candidate is personally appealing to me. In fact, I plan to vote for some folks I don’t much care for – just because they are not a part of this movement to resist our right to choose our own destiny.

There is nothing more basic to the American experiment than our unique and precious right to govern ourselves: with representatives of our choosing – to achieve the goals we deem best for our nation.

The horse race between individual candidates will always be there, but I hope you too will ponder the essential choice this election – and cast a vote for our system of Government itself.

James Coyne

Your Child’s Life or Death:  Who Controls “Medical” Decisions?

Rep. Kidd’s “Simon’s Law”seeks to make it you.

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Imagine for a moment that your child is seriously ill and in a Missouri hospital.

If medical staff decides to stop life sustaining treatment or food do you think you should be informed? As the parent, should your consent be required?

You would, of course, answer yes and assume the parents informed consent is already required.

But you would be wrong. When it comes to a disorder that is determined to be “lethal” or “incompatible with life”, life sustaining care and food can be, and often is, discontinued without the parents knowledge or approval.

A death sentence for your child you never even knew about.

One such case here in Missouri has sparked a push for “Simon’s Law”. In 2014, Simon Crosier was born with a genetic disease and was a patient at a St. Louis Hospital. Due to the hospitals “futility policy” A DNR (do not resuscitate) order was placed in his records and “comfort feeding” was ordered. Comfort feeding is not designed to sustain life or recovery. The parents where never informed of these decisions nor did they consent to them.

His mother, Sheryl Crosier, testified his monitors where turned off and she was not allowed to feed him even her own breast milk. She watched her child die and no one at the hospital tried to save him.

In fact, no one was allowed to.

When Representative Bill Kidd of Missouri discovered what had taken place, and had personally visited with the mother, he began to champion HB 1361 “Simon’s Law” here in Missouri. He wanted to make sure it never happened again. Representative Kidd commented, “ I thought the bill would easily pass through committee and be voted into law, but when we got to the hearing the room it was filled with lobbyists from hospitals and medical groups”(see who opposed the bill below). After passing the Children’s and Families committee on a 9 to 0 vote, Simon’s law was Referred to Rules and Legislative Oversight on 3/15/18. There it died. It was never taken up by that committee, much less voted on by the full house. As is the case with many good bills, if house leadership is not behind it, they simply do not allow it to proceed through the process.

Since that time a similar bill has been passed and signed into law in Kansas, but with no enforcement mechanism. Kansas Gov. Signs nations first “Simon’s Law” 2017

Representative Kidd fights on and will introduce the bill again in the next legislative session.

Mo. House bill 1361 “Simon’s Law” text.

COMMITTEE ACTION: Voted “Do Pass with HCS” by the Standing Committee on Children and Families by a vote of 9 to 0. Testifying against the bill were Stuart Sweet; Joan Rosenbaum, MD, St. Louis Children’s Hospital; Jonathan Mullin, St. Louis Children’s Hospital; Paul And Kim Kosednar; Sarah Younger MD; Naomi Lauriello, American Academy of Pediatrics Missouri Chapter; Jane Moone, Missouri Hospice & Palliative Care; Laura Miller-Smith; and SSM Health