The Writes of A Man, for ALL Humanity

June 23, 2026.

Chair and members of the Committee,

My name is Roxanne Casha, and I would like to tell you what prenatal alcohol exposure has cost my family.

Not because Jim was born with it—but because he has spent more than twenty years fighting for people who were.

For over two decades, our lives have revolved around this cause. Jim has driven to Lansing more times than I can count. He has taken time away from work, used vacation days, and spent countless hours preparing testimony, meeting with legislators, and speaking for people who often cannot speak for themselves.

He has even walked from Lansing to Washington, D.C.—twice—to bring attention to prenatal alcohol exposure. No one does that because it’s easy. You do it because you believe lives depend on it.

Advocacy has a cost.

There has been the cost of fuel, hotels, meals, and lost wages. There have been opportunities we passed up because our time and resources were devoted to this cause instead.

But the greatest cost has been emotional.

I have watched the frustration build as year after year the same scientific evidence is presented, the same stories are told, and yet so little changes. When you know that children continue to suffer from a preventable brain injury, it is difficult not to become frustrated. That frustration doesn’t stay in Lansing. It comes home with you.

Our family has paid a price for Jim’s advocacy, and we accepted that because we believed someone had to speak for those who could not.

Today, I simply ask you to listen.

If you can prevent even one child from being born with a lifelong brain injury, you will spare not only that child, but also future families, future spouses, future children, and future taxpayers from carrying that burden.

I know the cost of doing nothing.

My family has been paying it for over twenty years.