Children need elected leaders who will protect their access to quality health care

As a pediatrician who works with children in our state every day, I am privileged to play a part in helping them grow up healthy and reach their full potential. In fact, being able to work and speak up on behalf of children who depend on us to be their voice is what drew me to pediatrics, and it’s exactly why I’ll be casting my ballot with kids in mind this November.

The national midterm elections are less than a month away, and there is a lot at stake for children and their families. With so many issues facing families, we need elected leaders who will prioritize children and invest in our future. The statistics are daunting.

In Connecticut, nearly one in three children lives in a low-income family and about 15 percent are food insecure. Connecticut’s rates of opioidrelated deaths continue to rise, and children remain some of the most vulnerable victims of the crisis, as evidenced by rising number of foster care placements, infants born addicted to opiates, and unintentional overdoses by children. In 2016, almost 5,000 children and young adults were killed by guns nationwide. Currently, thousands of children are detained at the border, and more than 200 children remain separated from their parents, continuing to endure significant toxic stress that compromises their health.

Despite these numbers, my young patients constantly remind me that they are the keys to a brighter future. I’m reminded of children from Afghanistan who tell me about their love of art classes and playing cricket with new friends, speaking English more confidently each time I see them; the single mom who excitedly tells me about the healthy meals she cooks for her children when I point out their improving BMIs; the shy teenager who plans to go to engineering camp over the summer while his parents, both immigrants from Mexico, beam with pride.

Children need elected leaders who will protect their access to quality health care through Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program, healthy foods through WIC and school breakfast and lunch programs, and financial assistance for their families like the Earned Income Tax Credit. Children facing violence domestically and abroad rely on leaders who will work for gun safety, fight discrimination of immigrant families, and protect them from inhumane treatment at our borders. Since kids cannot vote, we are their voice on these issues.

While children only make up 25 percent of our population, they are 100 percent of our future. Our support for them is an investment in more just, peaceful, and successful communities. Please consider joining me and voting with children in mind on November 6.