We keep hearing the GOP bill itself as the "pro-life" party - the defender of the unborn. Why is it that their concern for children seems to end at birth? Here in Oregon, as Our Oregon notes, we have another example as House Republicans try to keep a bill from moving forward that would ban a toxic chemical found in baby bottles and sippy cups:
Senate Bill 695, which would ban the toxic chemical BPA in baby bottles and sippy cups, has been blocked in the House by Republicans who refuse to hold a committee work session on it.
Why is this bill so important? Take it away, OLCV: "Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a dangerous, toxic chemical that is routinely found in plastic children’s food products like baby bottles, sippy cups, and infant formula cans. Toxic BPA has been linked to several increasing children's developmental problems."Instead of voting to protect children by banning this harmful chemical in children’s products, Republican leaders have put the brakes on the bill. Why would that be? Kari Chisholm at Blue Oregon has an interesting take that involves Representative Bruce Hanna’s financial ties to Coca-Cola, a major backer of BPA.
The good news is that all is not lost.
Representative Ben Cannon has filed a “discharge petition” to allow the House to take an up-or-down vote on banning BPA.
A discharge petition can be used when politicians try to kill a popular, important bill – in this case, the BPA ban – without even allowing it to come up for a vote. This petition will need to be signed by 31 Representatives, a majority of the Oregon House, to send the BPA-Free Baby Bill to the floor for a vote. But we need them to sign within the next five days.
Click here to tell your Representative to sign the discharge petition before 5 p.m. on next Wednesday, June 1st to allow the BPA-Free Baby Bill to come up for a vote.
Act quickly to protect the health of kids in Oregon. I know that for most people - Republican, Democrat or Independent - we want Legislators to put politics aside and do what is best for our children. This is a moral issue that should transcend party politics and that should bring people who disagree on difficult issues like abortion together for the common good.