State Leadership in Spotlight as Andrew Young Calls for Fluoridation Law Repeal
Georgia leaders face Flint-like moment of decision as fluoridation Civil Rights and safety issues emerge
ELLIJAY, Ga., Oct. 27, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Former Atlanta Mayor and U.S. Ambassador Andrew Young has sent a powerful letter to Gov. Deal and House Speaker Ralston calling for a repeal of Georgia's water fluoridation law, reports Georgia-based non-profit The Lillie Center for Energy and Health Studies and Moms Against Fluoridation, a national group. The law currently remains in effect despite burgeoning evidence that drinking fluoride chemicals is not safe nor is it effective for cavity reduction.
Ambassador Young is asking for a written response and action by the leaders, writing: "What's clear to me is that we need a repeal of Georgia's water fluoridation law, and hearings to look into how fluoridation has continued all these years, long after there were plenty of reasons to end it."
He writes, "When someone's story keeps changing, there are quite often motivations behind their changed stance that may not be aligned with the best interests of the public. The story offered by water fluoridation promoters keeps changing…"
"This is a civil rights issue," Young further writes, "and the people have a right to have the full story given to them, rather than highly edited, misleading talking points."
The non-profit Lillie Center for Energy and Health Studies and the national group Moms Against Fluoridation both issued statements of support following Andrew Young's letter. "The Ambassador's letter to Georgia leadership directly addresses many of the issues of the growing Fluoridegate scandal. There are real concerns about harm to African Americans, outdoor workers, kidney patients and pregnant women," says Daniel G. Stockin MPH of The Lillie Center.
Moms Against Fluoridation concurs: "Flint-like complacency should not be the order of the day, and up until now that is exactly what it seems to be."
Highlighting key civil rights aspects, Mr. Young's letter further states, "Dentists said fluoridation would help level the playing field for minority communities, but now we see in documents publicized by the Lillie Center that African Americans and other groups are actually disproportionately harmed by fluorides causing all forms of dental fluorosis teeth disfigurement. Plus we have more diabetics and kidney patients in African American communities, and they deserve to not be kept in the dark and forced to drink fluorides because the state mandates it."
The non-profit groups echo Ambassador Young's concerns and call on the Governor and Speaker to take action.
Other leaders voicing concern about artificial water fluoridation include Bernice and Alveda King, Dr. Gerald Durley, Mark Hyman MD, Erin Brockovich and Lois Gibbs, among many others.
In the context of the public health water scandal in Flint, Michigan and the growing calls to end fluoridation, Georgia officials' responses to Andrew Young's letter are certain to be carefully watched by communities across the state.
Ambassador Young's letter: http://momsagainstfluoridation.org/sites/default/files/pdf-documents/Ambassador-Andrew-Young.pdf
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SOURCE The Lillie Center for Energy and Health Studies; Moms Against Fluoridation
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