“Marriage equality is more popular than marijuana”.
That was message of State Representative Laurie Jinkins at this morning’s Toasting Equality breakfast sponsored by Equal Rights Washington. (She was referring to polling information on various ballot initiatives).
There are very few times as an elected official that you get to feel like you are actually making history. I felt that way when I cast a vote in the Legislature to give collective bargaining rights to state employees. Casting a vote in Congress to give all couples the right to marry across our great country would be a similar honor.
Not all the news this week was good though.
Like many of you, I was stunned when Secretary Sebelius reversed the FDA’s recommendation to make Plan B (or emergency contraception) available over the counter to girls younger than 17, especially with such bogus arguments.
Any medication, when used improperly, can cause “adverse effects”. When making these kinds of regulations, first we need to listen to the scientists. Then as policymakers, we do need to weigh the likelihood that kids are going to be huffing Plan B (very low) vs. the devastating effect on a 15 or 16 year old of having to deal with an unintended pregnancy because neither she nor her partner had an adult they could go to for help in obtaining a prescription for Plan B.
While in the Legislature, I was proud to fight for increased access to contraception in the form of “contraceptive equity” – requiring that insurance companies cover the cost of contraception – and to vote for it both as a member of the Health Care committee and on the floor of the House of Representatives. After leaving the Legislature, I didn’t leave the fight. I joined the PAC Board of NARAL ProChoice Washington to make sure that we continued to elect leaders who would fight for women’s health care.
While we are on the subject of disappointing actions in Washington DC and the need to fight for what’s right, I want to go back to something that happened a couple of months ago. In mid-August, Congress passed free trade agreements with Panama, South Korea, and Columbia. Trade is a vital part of the Washington State economy. But we can’t simply pass free trade agreements blindly; they should have environmental and labor protections and we must consider how labor is treated in the countries we are dealing with.
I’ve said again and again that the right to organize is one of my bedrock principles. Following that, while I would have voted for the agreements with South Korea and Panama, I could not have voted to support a free trade agreement with Columbia, a country with a dismal record on protecting the lives of union organizers.
Events
Tonight! at 6p - Reception hosted by Dr. Mark & Susan Vossler at their home in Kirkland. RSVP. Make a contribution.
As always, please feel free to reply (they come straight to me) or call my cell phone at 425-445-0970.
Working to represent you,
Laura