I honestly cannot wrap my head around this.

California passed, or is considering, a law using the term “perinatal,” which medically includes the time up to about a month after a baby is born, rather than “prenatal.” Now Washington has signed a bill that critics say could prevent investigations into certain infant deaths during that same time period.

Let that sink in for a minute.

We’re not talking about a pregnancy anymore. We’re talking about a baby that has already been born.

No matter what someone believes about abortion, how did we reach a point where the death of a newborn might not even be investigated? How is that something any elected official would support? And how could any voter look at that and say, “Yes, that’s who I want representing me”?

This is where something bigger needs to be said.

I have deep concerns about the direction many of our political leaders are taking, and in my view too many elected officials have lost sight of the people they are supposed to represent. Our government was never meant to operate above the citizens, it was designed to serve them.

But the responsibility doesn’t end with politicians. It starts with us. “We the People” are the ones who hire these officials. Yet too often we treat civic participation as something that ends after Election Day. In reality, voting is only the first step. If a successful business operated the way our civic engagement often does, checking in once in a while