Spina Bifida Featured Prominently During Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings

A large component of the important work the Spina Bifida Association (SBA) carries out as an organization is advocacy action.  We share information and the need for critically important programs on behalf of the Spina Bifida cause with our legislators in an effort to increase the visibility of this complex birth defect and to improve the quality of life for those affected. One very visible and recent result of the impact of this work was squarely set in the public’s eye yesterday during Confirmation Hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor when Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK.) posed a question related to Spina Bifida to Judge Sotomayor.  The question was centered on the birth of a child with Spina Bifida.
“While we as an organization take no position on the issues surrounding this controversial question, as a Community we are encouraged to see Spina Bifida being discussed on such a prominent national level,” remarked Cindy Brownstein, President and CEO of SBA.

During SBA’s recent National Conference, the impact of advocacy as a Community was discussed at a compelling plenary session. While conference attendees participated in a grassroots advocacy program centered around raising the visibility of Spina Bifida with their representatives in Congress, members of the Community not in attendance were encouraged to sign up for SBA’s online advocacy alerts. These alerts, sent several times during the year, encourage Members of Congress to take action on issues of vital importance to the Spina Bifida cause. To learn more, or to sign up to receive advocacy alerts, please visit www.spinabifidaassociation.org and click on the Legislative Action Center under the How to Help tab. For more information on Judge Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings, please click here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/15/AR2009071501114.html?hpid=topnews.

The Spina Bifida Association is the nation’s only national voluntary health agency dedicated to serving the needs of the Spina Bifida Community. Its programs give hope and strength to more than 250,000 people whose lives are touched by this disabling birth defect. One of the SBA’s most vital functions is to communicate to the 65 million women of childbearing age the importance of daily folic acid intake to reduce the risk of neural tube defects such as Spina Bifida. For more information, visit www.spinabifidaassociation.org or call 800-621-3141.