Bera - The Clear Choice on Women's Issues

September 20, 2016 |

Sheriff Scott Jones, running against Congressman Ami Bera in the 7th Congressional District race, has stated he will be voting for Donald Trump in November and, as far as we can tell, has not repudiated any of Trump's statements denigrating women.

     

High among Donald Trump's most outrageous utterances have been his episodic attacks on women. These tirades, insults and slurs, like many others, seem to be triggered by his thin-skinned intolerance for criticism or for questions he doesn't want to address.

So far, Candidate Trump has referred to women as "pigs," demeaned the facial qualities of a then-fellow GOP candidate, Carly Fiorina, suggested that a debate moderator's tough questioning was related to her menstrual cycle, opined that mothers who violate any ban against abortions should be criminally prosecuted, and speculated that the reason the grieving Muslim mother of American war hero, Army Capt. Humayun Khan, did not join her husband in speaking at the Democratic Convention was because her culture did not allow it.

Candidate Trump's disrespect for women is relevant not only to the Presidential contest but also locally because Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones is voting for Trump. He's said this does not mean he's endorsing Trump. But a vote is the most definitive, tangible form of endorsement. The good Sheriff can't have it both ways. He's either for Trump or against him.

On top of that, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department under Jones' leadership recently was ordered by a court to pay a combined $3.6 million in damages to four female deputies who were retaliated against for complaining about discrimination and preferential treatment. Most recently, the judge who heard the case reaffirmed his earlier ruling that the county must pay $5.3 million in fees to the plaintiffs' attorneys.

In contrast, Congressman Bera has a long, unblemished record of supporting women's issues. As a physician, he has been a tireless advocate for women's health. He believes health care decisions should be between a woman and her doctor.

As a Congressman, he has co-sponsored numerous bills whose purposes range from equal pay for women, to ensuring affordable abortion coverage and care, access to contraception, and reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. He has opposed several efforts by Republicans to restrict women's access to reproductive health care and to impose criminal penalties on women for seeking care. He has also opposed legislation to defund Planned Parenthood. In recognition of his "vision, leadership, and integrity" in protecting and advancing access to reproductive health care, Planned Parenthood in 2015 presented Dr. Bera its "Champions for Women's Health" award, an honor bestowed on a single member of the House and the Senate each year.

For those of us who believe women's issues are of vital importance, we have clear choices to make at both at the Presidential and Congressional levels this November.

                                                           

Kendra Lewis – Rancho Murieta                    Nancy Fox - Wilton

Kate Van Buren – Sacramento                       Jo Souvignier - Carmichael

Myrna Solomon – Rancho Murieta                 Glenna Sansone – Carmichael

Jane Hansjerger – Elk Grove                          Marcia Launey - Sacramento

Marcia Blount – Rancho Cordova                  Angela Taylor – Elk Grove

Lena Spence – Wilton                                     Jolene Matson – Elk Grove