I never met you but we thank you, Sophie. Your fire burned short but the wake of your spirit continues to help thousands of people heal their sullen hearts. You are an inspiration.
My guest for this podcast, Lisa Addis Proehl, is a woman whom I grew up with in the same small town, going to the same schools and such. Over the years we have since reconnected through social media.
Lisa was always at the top of our class. I found her to be a strong, honest and steady person who could be someone you could count on and who was a person of great support. She was a staple on the honor roll, played the flute in the marching band, sang in the chorus, and much more.
I noticed online that she had spear headed the passing of a House Bill 1031 in the state of Washington in 2021. The bill is to make sure that people who go through a birthing which results in a stillborn are able to acquire a Certificate of Birth for their child, as well as the Certificate of Death. This small act, one would think, would be a simple issue and give so much solace and healing to new parents going through such a troubled moment.
I believe we all know that politics and simplicity are not the norm.
Lisa has gone on to help with a couple of organizations that help people dealing with still birth circumstances. Her caring and compassionate heart helps her assist couples dealing with the emotions of birth and death while she finds her own catharsis in the process.
I wanted to do this podcast because I saw that on March 12, 2024, the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee passed the Stillbirth Health Improvement and Education (SHINE) for Autumn Act (H.R. 5012) led by U.S. Representatives Young Kim (CA-40), Kathy Castor (FL-14), Dave Joyce (OH-14), and Robin Kelly (IL-02). This for many people across the country is big news! The bill was introduced to the Senate by Cory Booker and Marco Rubio and is a huge step in the right direction putting us much closer to getting the bill signed into law.
If passed into law, this bill will help tremendously with funding and supporting stillbirth data, research and education.
Here are a couple of links to the organizations that Lisa works with and your support would be welcomed:
Click the following link to review the bill which Lisa helped get turned into a law through unanimous consent.
You can follow this link to find the overview of the history of the passing of this bill.
Thank you, Sophie.