Pediatricians are one of the first and most trusted people you turn to when you have a new baby. They are a phone call away when your child is sick, and you don’t know what to do.  They give you advice on how to raise a healthy, well-balanced child.

Pediatricians and all healthcare professionals play an important role in our individual lives. They also play a critical role on a larger scale in our communities as they are some of the first to raise their voices and expose a public health issue.

Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha is the Flint, Michigan pediatrician and public health advocate who first reported there was lead in the drinking water. She went public with her research and faced backlash. She persisted. But despite the tireless efforts by her and many others, the Flint water crisis is a public health crisis that is still not resolved. She has just published a book called “What the Eyes Don’t See – A Story of Crisis, Resistance and Hope in an American City”.  A portion of the proceeds from book sales will be donated to Flint Kids.

Dr. Colleen Kraft, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), was one of the first to visit the facilities where thousands of children are being held after being separated from their parents as they cross our southern border seeking asylum. 70 children a day are being separated from their parents.

In a May 8^th statement opposing the policy of separating families, the AAP stated: “Separating children from their parents contradicts everything we stand for as pediatricians – protecting and promoting children’s health. In fact, highly stressful experiences, like family separation, can cause irreparable harm, disrupting a child’s brain architecture and affecting his or her short- and long-term health. This type of prolonged exposure to serious stress – known as toxic stress – can carry lifelong consequences for children.”

Clinical psychologists describe the human toll this crisis is taking on children. The trauma and long term psychological and physical effects. In a recent interview, Dr. Kraft said the “zero tolerance” policy separating families at the border “amounts to child abuse.”

Nearly 4600 mental health professionals and 90 organizations have signed a petition urging the president and the attorney general to stop separating families at the border.

The media are shining a spotlight on the crisis at the border day after day. From our government leaders come lies, blame and unaccountability. There is growing bi-partisan backlash, yet this moral crisis continues.

If you didn’t realize just how horrific it is to separate children from their parents, an audio tape released this week made it real. On it you hear small children crying for their parents and a six-year-old girl asking border patrol if they would call her aunt to pick her up. I have heard this tape several times and every time it makes me cry.

As this tape has been played over and over on the news, journalists asked where are the girls and where are the toddlers. Only pictures of older boys have been made public. Some of the best and most respected journalists had to fight back tears as they broke the news that a fourth shelter for “tender age” children was needed. Tender age children! However “tender age” is defined, all I can think of are my four grandchildren who are 5 years old and younger. Yes, they are a tender age and need their parents.

We cannot stand by and let this define who we are as a country.

I applaud every journalist who is shining a bright light on this story and giving a voice to people who otherwise have none.

I applaud every public figure and healthcare leader who has gone to the border to see this situation firsthand and added their voice to the public outcry.

I applaud every governor who has pulled back or refused to send their state’s national guard because they are unwilling to support a family separation policy.

I applaud every congressperson who has led or been part of congressional delegations to witness, speak out and demand an immediate policy change.

I applaud everyone who has had the courage to say this is wrong and must stop.

I add my voice to this outcry – it is wrong and must stop. We are a nation of immigrants. We are better than this.

Resources:

American Academy of Pediatrics

Families Belong Together