How was Lewiston-Auburn represented?

Senate Paper 842 was a “Joint Order directing the Health and Human Services Committee to report out to the Senate a bill regarding parental consent to dispense prescription drugs to children.”

On Feb. 5, it passed with Sen. Peggy Rotundo and Sen. Lois Snowe-Mello voting “yes.”

The order was defeated in the House on Feb. 7, 75-67, with Reps. Mike Carey, Margaret Craven, Elaine Makas, Deborah Simpson and Richard Wagner voting against it. Reps. Mark Samson and Mike Beaulieu voted favoring it.

It returned to the Senate and again passed, but Sen. Rotundo voted “no.” It returned to the House and the same voting pattern recurred. The order died.

Why didn’t the Sun Journal report this? There has been a great deal of public concern about middle school children receiving birth control medications from the school without parental knowledge or consent. Do these negative votes really represent the majority opinion of L-A citizens?

Why did the Democrat majority vote against this? This was a great opportunity to restore some sanity to our societal structure. Parents are responsible for their child’s care. A child has neither the experience or judgment to make responsible choices.

The joint order should have been passed and when the bill was presented, if flawed, be amended or defeated. The current Democrat majority votes made us miss a great opportunity to correct a situation. We should demand better than this irresponsible dismissal of this issue. Remember this in November.

Thomas F. Shields, Auburn

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