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Pawlenty signs pool safety bill named for Abigail Taylor
It wasn't a moment most six-year-old girls would find especially exciting. A man in a suit sat at his formal desk, putting pen to paper, as TV cameras rolled and photographers snapped photos. And yet that's exactly what little Abbey Taylor wanted, even though she didn't live long enough to see it herself. The man in the suit was Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, and the bill he signed Thursday was the Abigail Taylor Pool Safety Act. "We will never forget Abbey and we hope none of you ever do," Abbey's father Scott Taylor told reporters at the Capitol, "I hope that this helps to keep other family and children safe because I hope I never have to go to another funeral." The Edina girl suffered devastating injuries last June 29th while sitting on the drain of a wading pool at a golf club in Saint Louis Park. The suction pulled out a large section of her intestinal track, but surgeons were able to save her. But two months ago Abbey died from complications of a multiple organ transplant. She would've turned seven on Saturday. "We learned more about who Abigail was as a person and her soul in the nine months since accident than we did in the first six years," Taylor remarked. It was Abbey who urged her father to go public with her story and to become a citizen lobbyist, first for federal pool safety legislation and then for the state law. In Minnesota the bill was carried by Rep Paul Thissen of Minneapolis, and Senator Geoff Michel of Edina. "This was a six-year-old girl with a supersized impact," Senator Michel said at the signing ceremony, "I like to say she's done the impossible. She got Congress and the Minnesota Legislature to act in a matter of months." Senator Amy Klobuchar took up the cause in Washington, DC. Abbey's case prompted Congress to revive the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act, which had sat on the shelf for years. That act was named for James Baker's 7-year-old granddaughter, who did in a hot tub in 2002 after being trapped by the suction of the drain. The federal bill requires all pools have automatic safety shut-off valves on their drains, which will sense if the drain is blocked and shut off the suction. The Minnesota version goes much further, requiring all existing pools and spas open to the public to bring their drain covers up to standards. It will also require those pools to be licensed and inspected by the Minnesota Department of Health. The law will also require that all pools with power-assisted suction style drains have a dual system, or backup drainage that can take over if the main one becomes obstructed. Wading pools will have until 2009 to comply with that, while other pools can take until 2011 to make the changes. But Scott Taylor said no matter how strong the laws are, it all depends on operators and lifeguards being educated about the dangers of drain covers not being attached well. "To every lifeguard or pool director out there, if the drain cover is loose or broken, shut the pool down," said Taylor, "There's no other answer, shut it down." Taylor made a point of thanking his wife Katey for picking up the slack on the home front while he lobbied in Washington and Saint Paul for pool safety legislation. He also vowed to keep up the battle to make the parents and pool owners aware of the dangers of pool drains.
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