Political Quotes

“I come to the floor to speak in opposition to the nomination of Kyle Duncan for the U.S. Circuit Court for the Fifth Circuit. I find his nomination troubling, but I find many of President Trump's nominees for judges troubling because they want to restrict established rights or roll back privacy issues, whether it is Roe v. Wade or LGBT rights. In many cases, Mr. Duncan has tried to take away these very important reproductive rights for women. From 2012 to 2014, he was the lead counsel on the Hobby Lobby v. Sebelius Supreme Court case. That flawed decision allows closely held corporations to deny FDA-approved contraceptive coverage to women employees if the company owners object to the contraception based on religious beliefs. More than half of the working-age women in Washington State get their healthcare coverage through their employer. They pay for their coverage through hard-earned wages and compensation. Their employer should not be able to just cherry-pick what benefits they get because the owners have a self-professed religious objection. Mr. Duncan also tried to go after State laws protecting birth control access. Thanks in part to Washington State pharmacist Jennifer Erickson, Washington State has a law on the books requiring all pharmacies to stock and deliver all lawfully prescribed drugs, including contraception, but Mr. Duncan worked to take that hard-fought access away.…”