Today, I want to tell about a young woman named Ally Bain who became an advocate for Crohn's and Colitis sufferers at the age of 14 after being turned away from using a restroom while shopping with her mother, causing her to have a very public and embarrassing accident. Sadly, I have only too many stories like that of my own. The most poignant occurring on the last day of my honeymoon when I made my new husband pull over on the side of the California free-way for me to relieve myself.
Ally's Law, aka The Restroom Access Act, is a law that requires businesses to make employee-only restrooms available to people with IBD and other chronic medical conditions, as well as pregnancy. Since the passage of the Restroom Access Act in Illinois in 2005, the legislation has passed in 11 other states: Minnesota, Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Colorado, Ohio, Michigan, Washington, Oregon, Wisconsin, and Connecticut. With the help of voices like Ally's, yours, and mine, we'll find a way to get this very important legislation passed in all 50 states. If you're a sufferer of IBD, be sure to order your Medical Alert Restroom Access Pass.
I've contacted Idaho State Representative Janice McGeachin, chair of the the Health and Welfare Committee in the House and Idaho State Senator Patti Anne Lodge, Chair of the the Health and Welfare Committee in the Senate to see if we can't get something accomplished like Ally's Law here in Idaho. Ally is certainly an inspiration to us all.
Seriously. I hate in Europe where you have to pay for the bathroom everywhere. Or in Brazil where people just go to the bathroom all over the place (Rio smells like pee sometimes). Rome has more bars than bathroom, why and how?
ReplyDeletePlease let me know what I can do to help get this passed in Idaho also! I have two little girls with neurogenic bladders and interstitial cystitis. We need bathrooms constantly. We have had a couple of experiences where my girls are in so much pain they can not walk and store employees have refused to let them use the bathroom.
ReplyDeleteI will contact whomever I need to, or help you with whatever I can to get this passed in Idaho, so no one else has to go through this!
I'll let you know what I can do. Bathroom issues are never fun, and being turned away when you are desperate is heartbreaking and dehumanizing. Feel free to email me at anabelmanchester@gmail.com and I'll keep you in the loop. Good luck!
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