Dear Governor Bentley,

I write this as an open letter because the people of Alabama have a critical stake in your decision. I want Alabamians to fully understand what is at stake so I am sharing this letter with them as I share it with you.

Governor, I really pray for Alabama.  I pray for Alabama to be the very best that it can be. I also weep for Alabama. I really weep for Alabama because we sometimes seem to be hell bent on being the very worst that we can be. It’s terrible to be constantly praying for the best and yet constantly weeping because the worst is forging our reality.

Recent events have brought this praying and weeping syndrome into sharp focus. I pray for the best for Alabama but I am also weeping. I weep because the worst is again forcing itself upon us.

I pray that lives be saved, that pain and suffering be reduced, that peace of mind be increased, that more and better jobs are provided and that our community institutions survive and thrive. In short, I pray that the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness proclaimed by the Declaration of Independence becomes a reality for many more Alabamians.

Governor, you have a grand opportunity to advance life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in Alabama. You can save hundreds of lives, reduce widespread pain and suffering, greatly increase peace of mind, provide numerous jobs and save critical community institutions. All that is required is a mustard seed of faith, a thimble of courage and the stroke of your pen. Please help Alabama to be at its best this one time.

Governor, you can save up to 562 lives each year. That’s three lives every two days. You can help provide healing for up to 300,000 Alabamians each year. You can reduce pain and suffering for tens of thousands. You can provide peace of mind for more than a half million who fear seeking medical care because they and/or their loved ones have no means to pay.

You can provide an estimated 30,000 jobs that will greatly enhance the lives of thousands of Alabama families. You can save up to 17 Alabama hospitals in rural areas over the next two years. You can help numerous Alabama businesses with $28 billion of additional economic activity over the next six years. All it takes is a mustard seed of faith, a thimble of courage and the stroke of your pen. Please help Alabama to be at its best this one time.

Governor Bentley, it is not often that a moral imperative, an economic imperative and a community imperative come together in one time and place. With just one stroke of your pen you can implement all three imperatives: the moral imperative to save lives and heal the sick; the economic imperative to provide jobs and business opportunities; the community imperative to save hospitals and other institutions. You can help Alabama be at its best this one time.

Governor Bentley, the forces of the universe have aligned to place you in your position for such a time as this. Please do not allow this once in a lifetime opportunity to pass you by. More importantly, do not allow this opportunity to pass Alabama by. It’s a matter of life and death, of protecting and providing, of helping and healing, of enhancing and enriching. Please help Alabama be at its very best this one time.

Governor Bentley, this grand opportunity comes in the form of Medicaid expansion. And all you have to do is sign on the dotted line. No one can do this but you. It’s on you, just you. All that is required is a mustard seed of faith, a thimble of courage and a stroke of your pen. Please help Alabama rise to the occasion so it can be at its best this one time.

I want to specifically address the lurking concerns about the costs of Medicaid expansion. First, Alabama does not have to contribute any funding for the first three years.

Second, the most Alabama will contribute even years from now is 10 percent of the cost because the federal government will contribute 90 percent.

Third, if Alabama cannot afford to pay the 10 percent, it can opt out of Medicaid expansion.

Fourth, the $28 billion in increased economic activity over the next six years will produce revenue that surpasses any cost of Medicaid expansion.

Governor, this is a matter of life and death, health and healing, hope and happiness. Therefore, I ask, what price would you place on thousands of lives saved?

What price would you place on reduced pain and suffering for tens of thousands? What price would you place on increased peace of mind for more than a half million Alabamians? What price would you place on saving 17 rural hospitals? What price would you place on the great good that 30,000 jobs will produce?  What price would you place on Alabamians rising? I pray that you see that the good far outweighs the costs.

Please do not allow us to weep for Alabama any longer. Please help us celebrate in profound joy because you single handedly helped Alabama to be its very best this one time. Please expand Medicaid immediately.

Sometimes we are meant to be in a certain time, place and position. When we are in such a time, place and position, we are bound to do what the moment demands of us. If we do what the moment demands, we contribute greatly to a whole people. If we do not, we set a whole people back. This is such a time and place.