While growing up as the only son among four sisters, I was able to hear and see first hand the entirely different world women experience from men.  Especially salient is the issue of bodily autonomy. I am repulsed by the idea of the government dictating what my sisters -- and all girls and women -- can and can’t do with their bodies. 

Women are often treated like second class citizens in the U.S. with no clear legal recourse. This is why we must ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. Women work the lowest wage jobs, take time from paid work to be the caregivers for children and elders, as well as experience violence more than men, which hurts women, families and communities. I will push for funding and laws that aid women economically and protect girls and women from violence and discrimination. 

Democrats said for years they would protect women’s right to choose as a motivator to get people out to vote. Democrats had the ability to codify Roe v. Wade in 2009 when they had a supermajority in Congress and again in 2021 when they controlled the House, Senate and the presidency, but they failed to codify it into law every time they were in power.

The Epstein files are sadly another stark reminder that in the U.S. today, girls and women’s bodies do not belong to themselves and are targeted for exploitation. 

When half our population is denied bodily autonomy and full equality, it's impossible to say the U.S. is a Democracy.

I will support and will push for:

• Fully paid 12 weeks parental leave for births or placements, with tax credits to businesses

• Expanded Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and making the Child Tax Credit (CTC) permanent

• Laws that prevent and punish wage theft, which is the biggest white collar crime and victimizes women the most 

• Women's Health Protection Act that codifies Roe v. Wade and protects patients from state-level bans and restrictions. I will also push senators to remove the filibuster so that we can pass this long overdue legislation   

• Medicare for All, which would provide free comprehensive reproductive health care & IVF coverage. This would benefit Black women in our district in particular, whose maternal mortality rate can be six times higher than for white women.  

• Expanded funding to federal programs that increase access to capital and lending for women-owned small businesses 

• Expanded funding to the Violence Against Women Act programs as well as the PAWS – Pet and Women Safety Act, which provides grants to domestic violence shelters/housing to accommodate pets, and other protections and aid 

• Expanding Access to Family Planning Act which increases funding for Title X family planning clinics

• Ensuring Women's Right to Reproductive Freedom Act, which prohibits the punishment of individuals traveling across state lines for reproductive care.