Louisiana House committee kills anti-fluoride drinking water bill

The Louisiana House Health and Welfare Committee May 28 rejected a bill by Sen. Mike Fesi, a Houma Republican, that would have banned fluoride from public water systems.

SB-2 passed the state Senate earlier this month, and would have barred the state health department, which oversees drinking water, from adding fluoride to public water systems.

Many Republicans have been pushing anti-fluoride conspiracy theories and propaganda in recent years as part of the party’s broader anti-science and medical research legislative and policy agenda.

The bill noted that parishes could opt to add fluoride to their water supply, but only if they go through a robust petition and special election process.

But after a heated committee meeting Wednesday, the bill was rejected 10-5. Several Republicans voted against it.

“(Fluoride) has served our children very well without negative consequences to our adults,” said Rep. Joseph Stagni, a Kenner Republican who slammed the bill.

He warned that if the bill passed, it would be catastrophic for people who may simultaneously be losing their access to Medicaid under the Trump administration.

“It could cost as much as 18 million dollars to go ahead and start treating Medicaid-age children that are going to suffer tooth decay that right now they’re not suffering from,” Stagni said. “This could be a hellacious, cataclysmic problem in our state.”

Fesi, an oil and gas industry professional, falsely claimed that the state’s drinking water is causing brain damage among children and “calcifying” people’s pineal glands or causing mental health problems.

Throughout the meeting, he frequently referred to fluoride as a “drug” that people were being forced to consume against their will.

Fesi was backed by Louisiana Surgeon General Ralph Abraham, who said he supported removing fluoride and conducting further studies on its impacts, before considering adding it back into water supplies, though he also acknowledged that the state would likely struggle to come up with funding.

Dentists and pediatricians, however, pointed out that fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral that is safe when consumed in small amounts, and has been repeatedly proven to strengthen tooth enamel and destroy certain bacteria that cause cavities.

Many of them hailed it as one of the greatest advancements in public health, and also spoke about their concerns that removing fluoride would cause even greater health disparities among the state’s most vulnerable children.

Many families across the state can’t afford to go to the dentist or live in areas that are considered dental health care deserts. Fluoride, they argued, is a way to help combat tooth decay without immediate professional intervention. 

Dr. Kimberly Smith Bibbins, a dentist who spoke on behalf of the nonprofit community health center Southwest Louisiana Center for Health Services, spoke out against the bill and said Louisiana is already struggling to keep up with the demand for dental care.

“Water fluoridation is a safe, effective and equitable public health intervention,” she said, adding “many of the children I serve lack consistent access to health care, dental care, specifically making preventable measures like water fluoridation essential for protecting our oral health.”

For 80 years, fluoride it has been added to many American municipalities’ drinking water, in small amounts, to help prevent tooth decay. 

In fact, in many parts of the country, naturally occurring levels of fluoride are high enough to make additions unnecessary. Meanwhile, many parishes in Louisiana do not have fluoride added to their supply.

Despite no evidence that adding small amounts of fluoride to water is harmful, conspiracy theories about it have persisted since fluoridation programs first started. Fluoride conspiracies were even used in the 1964 film “Dr. Strangelove” as an example of the dangers unhinged conspiracy theories pose to society.

Over the last six years, anti-science theories have quickly gone from the fringes of society to the mainstream of the Republican Party.

A 9-year-old boy from northern Louisiana, who lives in a parish with unfluoridated water, also spoke out against the bill. He said he takes a daily fluoride supplement given to him by his mother. 

“We don’t really have to choose between being smart and having healthy teeth,” he said. “I think we can have both. Only high, unsafe amounts of fluoride can actually hurt us … Dentists say fluoride is safe and good for our health, and I believe them.”