For Your Friends and Family

Dear Aunt Carol/Uncle Bill/Grandma/Cousin Larry,

       I know we have had trouble having any conversations lately without arguing. I just want to let you know why as a nurse, I am voting for Joe Biden.

        I also know that as a Catholic, you are not in favor of contraception. But, the rates of abortion are declining because of better access to contraception since the Affordable Care Act (which is sometime called Obamacare). The Affordable Care Act requires insurers to cover all contraceptive services except if the person or employer objects. Access to contraception is essential for preventive health of women and for the well-being of families especially those from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Women who can avoid an unintended pregnancy and can plan their pregnancies can have more control over their choices to work and their ability to care for their families. 

        As a nurse, I have learned that my beliefs are not everyone’s beliefs and that I need to allow for people to make choices that they believe are right for them. In my work as a nurse, I often have to help people with choices that I wouldn’t have chosen or agreed with. I have learned that my job is to help them achieve their needs, not mine. 

        I know you are a good person and want what is right according to our religion. I hope you can think of all the “right” reasons to vote for Joe Biden, a good, honest, hard-working, Catholic family man who will protect our health and our nation.

Thank you for listening.

I love you,

Your niece, granddaughter, cousin,

Dear Aunt Carol/Uncle Bill/Grandma/Cousin Larry,

         I know we have had trouble having any conversations lately without arguing. I just want to let you know why as a nurse, I am voting for Joe Biden.

         We have had over 220,000 people die because of the COVID virus. Do you know many of these people did not have to die? Many died because we did not have what we needed to take care of them. As a nurse, I saw many of my friends and colleagues caring for patients without the proper PPE. Usually when we have a patient with an infection that could spread, we wear a gown, gloves, and a face mask for one time only. We never go to another patient with the same things on. When we finish with that patient, we throw all of these items away so that we do not spread the infection to ourselves or another patient. We take them off and put on a new clean, mask and gown for the next patient. Do you know that during this virus, we had to wear the same mask for a week and sometimes longer? Do you know we still don’t have enough masks to protect us and our patients? Do you know why?

          Donald Trump learned about this virus in January. But he chose to ignore this warning. He did not tell us because he didn’t want us to panic. Do nurses panic? I don’t think so. We would have made sure that our hospitals ordered enough equipment to be ready for our patients. Trump had three months to get us ready, to protect us, to get factories to make gowns, gloves and masks so we would be safe. He did nothing. He could have used the Defense Production Act  to get factories to make the PPE we needed. This Act was developed during the Korean War so that the President can order factories to make what is needed in times of war or emergency. Instead he told states to fend for themselves and they had to outbid each other to get what they could. I spent weeks sewing cloth masks for my nurse colleagues and for pediatric oncology patients because they did not have them and were considered “low risk” by the hospital. 

          I remember when Obama and Biden were in office, as soon as they heard about the H1N1 virus and the Ebola virus they put a plan in action. In March 2009, H1N1 was identified in Mexico, Obama instructed the US federal agencies to prepare for a pandemic. The first case in the US was April 15 and by April 28, 2009, the Food and Drug Administration approved a new test. Testing kits were developed and sent to all medical clinics. In 2014, when Ebola was discovered in Africa, Obama and Biden sent health officials there to help stem the outbreak. They set up 15 Ebola treatment centers there. We had one Ebola patient in New York, it didn’t spread because  the staff was prepared and had the right equipment ready.

           In January 2020, USA Today, Biden could see what was happening in China and warned us about this virus. Biden knew this was dangerous because Trump had made drastic cuts in NIH, CDC and dismissed the White House official in charge of global health security and dismantled the entire team. 

           Biden has promised to reassert US leadership in this global pandemic, restore the White House Global Security Team, assure that public health decisions are made by public health officials, expand production of PPE through Defense Production Act. He will promote prevention through public health measures and testing, tracing, and treatment and support work on vaccine. 

Thank you for listening.

I love you,

Your niece, granddaughter, cousin,

Dear Aunt Carol/Uncle Bill/Grandma/Cousin Larry,

          I know we have had trouble having any conversations lately without arguing. I just want to let you know why as a nurse, I am voting for Joe Biden.

          I know you don’t like to wear a mask because you feel it is against your individual freedom for someone to tell you what to wear. Believe me when I tell you that as a nurse, this is very important. It is one of the few ways besides handwashing that we have a way to prevent this virus. I don’t think you will say, I’m not going to wash my hands because someone is telling me to!

        We have learned that even people without symptoms can transmit this virus. So you don’t know if the person next to you at the post office or the grocery store may have it, but not have symptoms. If that person does not have a mask on, he/she may give it to you. Or, suppose you already have it, but don’t know it because you don’t have symptoms and the woman in front of you is on chemotherapy for breast cancer, you could give it to her! She may not be able to fight a virus while on chemo.

       You have always cared about others and taught me that it was the right thing to do. That is why I became a nurse. I know you don’t want to make anyone sick. And I don’t want you to get sick. Wearing a mask is not a political statement, although Trump tries to make it one. Wearing a mask is a public health statement. You are saying I care about YOU and YOU care about ME.

Thank you for listening.

I love you,

Your niece, granddaughter, cousin,

Dear Aunt Carol/Uncle Bill/Grandma/Cousin Larry,

       I know we have had trouble having any conversations lately without arguing. I just want to let you know why as a nurse, I am voting for Joe Biden.

      I really enjoy our summers at the shore, the air and water have improved so much. But do you know that the Trump administration is rolling back nearly 100 environmental protections? He has already rolled back 64 and another 34 are in the works! There is a strong connection between the environment and health. But he does not believe in science when it comes to the pandemic or climate change.

      I know you care deeply about the earth and how important it is to protect it for our children. Trump and his policies are destroying it. He has weakened regulations on carbon emissions, air pollution, drilling and extraction, water pollution and toxic substances and safety. 

      The pandemic has created enormous job loss in our country. Joe Biden will launch a create new jobs to build a modern, sustainable infrastructure and deliver a clean energy future in the auto industry, transit, power, building and housing, and agriculture and conservation.

Thank you for listening,

I love you,

Your niece, granddaughter, cousin,