Seven-year-old Michael Livi sent Christmas cards this year.

He included his picture, and his family members’ names are signed beneath the word “Peace.”

On the upper flap of the card are typed a few sentences: “This is Michael,” it says. “A mercury-damaged autistic child.”

In fact, the card went to only a few politicians.

And Wednesday, Michael’s mother, Lawrence resident Bobbie Livi, hopes to meet with those legislators in Washington, D.C., along with dozens of other parents from around the country.

She wants to tell them about her son.

She wants to explain her belief that his illness was caused by thimerosal, a preservative used widely in vaccines.

And she wants to ask them to rethink a provision in the Homeland Security bill that shields Eli Lilly & Co., the manufacturer of thimerosal, from lawsuits brought by parents like herself.

The provision was inserted into the bill without debate — and after having failed once — in November. And no one has since been able to determine how it got there.

Livi calls it despicable.

“Criminals and terrorists have more rights right now than children with autism and their families,” she said.

Supporters have said the liability shield for thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative, is needed to protect Eli Lilly because the giant pharmaceutical company is expected to be one of the main suppliers of smallpox vaccine under the new federal effort to start smallpox vaccinations.

Bobbie Livi was angry when she found out the new Homeland Security Act protects Eli Lilly & Co., the manufacturer of thimerosal, from lawsuits by parents like herself who believe the mercury-based drug preservative caused the autism of her son Michael, 7. Bobbie will be in Washington, D.C., Wednesday and Thursday to urge Kansas' senators -- Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts -- to repeal the provision in the bill. On Friday, mother and son spent time together in their Lawrence home.

The amendment protects Eli Lilly and other drug makers from thimerosal lawsuits past, present and future. These claims, under the provision, can be handled by a special vaccine court where damages are capped at $250,000 and paid by taxpayers — not the drug companies.

Yet this amount falls way short, Livi said, and the principles behind the provision are insulting.

Therapy and schooling alone for an autistic child can cost up to $100,000 a year, she said. And that’s not counting the out-of-state doctor bills and a cabinet filled with medication.

There’s also the indirect costs of having an autistic child, she said: hindered relationships, short-changed careers, foregone family vacations and lives put on hold.

“We don’t look forward to high school graduations,” she said, as Michael rocketed around the room. “We look forward to our 18-year-old jumping on the couch.”

Some lawmakers have promised separate legislation when Congress convenes next week to repeal the provision.

That is what Livi wants, and she wants support from senators Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts, who both voted for the Homeland Security bill that included the thimerosal provision.

But she is not hopeful that they will help her, and said the issue may even come down to a constitutional one. She said a Roberts staff person told her he knew of the thimerosal provision when he voted for the bill.

¢ Floor statement by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist¢ National Alliance for Autism Research position statement¢ Opensecrets.org report on Eli Lilly & Co.¢ Executive bio on Lilly’s Sidney Taurel

The Lawrence Journal-World contacted the offices of Brownback and Roberts to ask them if they would support having a vote on whether to repeal the provision, and would they support repealing the provision.

Roberts’ office did not respond. Brownback’s spokesman, Erik Hotmire, said he didn’t know Brownback’s position on the thimerosal provision. He said Brownback supported increased funding for autism research and may possibly have an effect on that if he receives, as expected, a seat on the Senate budget-writing committee. He also said either Brownback or someone in his office planned to meet with Livi on the issue on Wednesday.

The tragedy of Michael’s disease is that it’s regressive. Children learn to talk and walk, Livi said, and then, usually around 18 months, the mercury is too much.

They stop looking you in the eye. Then they have problems crawling. Their language development grinds to a halt. People start to stare.

And with all of the challenges, Livi said the last thing families needed was for Congress to eliminate any hope of receiving damages.

“Congress should not be making legislation that affects child safety without having the facts,” she said. “We are not opposed to tort reform, but we don’t feel like it should be done in the dark of night without debate.”