Jean Zahalka, a soft -
spoken public health nurse with shortly cropped gray hair, sat in a small office at the headquarters of the Snohomish Health District, conducting a phone interview with the mother of a 7 - month - old baby who had just been diagnosed with whooping cough.
Before attempting to
speak with case mothers directly, we first contacted
public health nurses, who are required by law to counsel families who have experienced a SIDS death, to ascertain any other pertinent information about the family.
Endorsers of the letter include National Organization for Women, NETWORK (which
spoke at the Democratic National Convention), National
Nurses United, Conference of Major Superiors of Men, Main Street Alliance, Greenpeace USA, Oxfam America, and many other environment,
public health, faith - based, labor, development, and social justice groups.