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Like most parents, Jay and I hope that our teenagers grow up making good choices. We want them to learn how to take care of themselves (do their own laundry) and plan for their futures. We want them to grow into responsible, contributing members of their community. But honestly, during the past few months, we’ve started to worry that our government is taking some important decisions away from them.

I hear a lot of officials talking about personal liberty lately – about the right to own a gun and to kill in self defense. But these same representatives are taking away the rights of women to protect their own lives and futures.

Last month, just a few days before the terrible massacre in Las Vegas, the Trump administration signed an executive order making it easier for employers and insurers to stop covering contraception.

Where does this leave the store clerk who can’t afford her high health insurance premiums, let alone her contraception? What about the warehouse worker who, for healthcare reasons needs more expensive contraception? What about the restaurant worker who needs contraception to treat a painful medical condition? These tax-paying citizens have the right to make their own healthy choices, but they are being prevented from doing so because of barriers our government is erecting.

Mr. Trump isn’t going to be there to console these workers, nor does Mr. Trump care if a young woman wants to get that MBA before she adds “mom” to her life experiences. His administration doesn’t believe it has to answer to these workers, nor pay for the consequences of unintended pregnancy.

We have strong moral values in our family. We believe in supporting lives – no matter who you are, what race you are, where you live, who you work for, or how much (or little) is in your bank account.

That’s why I’ve stepped up to run for office, along with record numbers of women all over the country. We’re all motivated by these same shared values and sense of urgency in preserving the lives of women and their families. We want to lift people up and bring barriers down. Here at home in State Senate 40, dozens of campaign volunteers have stepped up to help build an infrastructure to get more people out to vote. And over five-hundred of you have chipped in and made donations to our campaign.

If you are one of those five-hundred who have joined the cause, thank you for helping to lift women up. If you haven’t yet joined the cause, there’s no better time than now!

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