Over 3,000 bills were heard by the 2023 Maine Legislature. Many were defeated, but L.D. 445, sponsored by Sen. Joe Baldacci, unanimously passed the Senate and House and was carried over by the Appropriations Committee to the second session. Will it finally pass? I don’t know.
A major reason this bill got this far was the late Jeanne Gore, who passed in May of lymphoma. The national coordinator and founder of the National Shattering Silence Coalition, Jeanne helped lead family members urging the passage of L.D. 445 and so many other bills, federal and state.
Jeanne found the time and energy, despite her illness, to help lead media events on this bill and do background work. She sent or received over 2,000 messages. Jeanne was a dynamo of dedication. According to the National Shattering Silence Coalition, her work for the community of families affected by serious brain disorders was extraordinary and included lobbying Congress, speaking to the media and co-authoring an award-winning book.
She even found time to co-write a Maine Voices (Sept. 22, 2022), explaining why ending the outdated federal Institutes for Mental Diseases exclusion law was necessary. Let’s honor Jeanne Gore and urge the final passage of L.D. 445. This will end this discriminatory federal law in Maine that has denied appropriate care to people with serious brain disorders since 1965!
Maine’s congressional delegation must join together and lead Congress in honor of Jeanne. How? Urge Congress to end their cruel inaction. End this discriminatory federal law! It’s destroyed the lives of not only Mainers but tens of thousands of other Americans for 58 years.
Joe H. Pickering Jr.
member, National Shattering Silence Coalition, and
chair, Truth Tear Down This Wall Committee
Bangor
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