Sen. Duckworth will be penalized for taking any maternity leave

[ehrnst]

Senator Tammy Duckworth will very soon be the first U.S. senator in history to give birth while in office.

She will also be the first senator that U.S. Senate rules will punish for giving birth. If she takes any maternity leave, she will be barred from voting or sponsoring any legislation. And even if she doesn't take leave, she'll likely be forced to miss voting times because her nursing infant will be barred from the Senate floor. Really.

Not only do the rules punish women in an institution with few women to begin with, they take away their ability to vote on legislation that impact women across the country. Imagine the raging debate on gun control right now--Sen. Duckworth's vote could mean the difference between finally strengthening background checks on gun purchases or not.

That's why Sen. Duckworth, who is due next month, is single-handedly trying to change Senate rules to allow new mothers in office to vote on legislation. If the rules don't change in time, Sen. Duckworth's vote will be taken away--in a time when we desperately need women's votes in Congress. Will you join senator Duckworth's call and demand the Senate fix its backward and anti-mother rules?

Petition at link:

https://act.weareultraviolet.org/sign/duckworth_maternity?akid=s588559.._ufzvD