INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) — The Right to Try movement is basking in the aftermath of a big victory in Washington DC.
The House passed out the Right to Try bill last night.
So does that mean young Jordan McLinn's work is done?
Not necessarily.
Eyewitness News Reporter Kevin Rader explains.
Eight-year-old Jordan McLinn looks like a typical second grade straight-A student. You would hardly guess he has hobnobbed with the biggest names in Washington, including the vice president of the United States.
"Jordan is one of the lucky ones," his mom Laura McLinn said.
How could a boy suffering from Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a terminal illness be lucky? Well, he was selected into a clinical trial, which he and his mother travel to Chicago for every Wednesday. Now they are fighting to make sure others like him get the Right to Try experimental treatments.
"Time is ticking, and it's ticking very fast for patients with that," she continued.
So when the US House voted to pass Right To Try earlier this week it seemed like the little boy who charmed the Indiana Statehouse had worked his magic again, but that is not the case.
"Now the problem is we have a Senate bill over here that the House doesn't want to bring to a vote. We have a House bill that passed last night, so we have no idea what the Senate will do with that," McLinn explained.
But the McLinn's have connections. After all the President expressed support for Right to Try in his State of the Union speech, and Vice President Pence already signed the measure into law as governor of Indiana with Jordan at his side. In fact, the vice president has also signed Jordan's bible, which he proudly displayed on Thursday.
"He did sign that one, too. And he signed here," Jordan McLinn said as he showed WTHR the vice president's inscriptions.
But there has been some push back on the measure.
Some say this bill is putting people’s lives in jeopardy.
"OK. Let’s talk about that risk," McLinn said. "We are putting patients at risk who are going to die. Just to put it bluntly. Who is to say? I'm sorry this is really hard for me because I am tired of hearing it. I'm tired of hearing it on the House floor. I am tired of hearing lawmakers say this about false hope, and 'we want to protect patients.' These patients we are talking about are dying, ok? It is the only hope they have."
The bill that passed yesterday carries the names of four people, including Jordan, but he is the only one currently enrolled in a clinical trial.
One adult woman included has already died.
The other two adult men are struggling with the disease.
The clock is ticking. That is why she hopes to get this bill passed this session.