Last week the House Democratic Caucus voted down a request by Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth (Dem., IL) to be allowed to vote by proxy in the November 18 leadership and ranking membership elections. Rep. Duckworth will be unable to travel to D.C. for the vote because she is eight months pregnant. Duckworth has been prescribed bed rest for the remainder of her pregnancy partially because she is a double amputee; she lost both her legs when a helicopter she was piloting was shot down over Iraq.
Unsurprisingly, the denial of Duckworth’s request has set off a firestorm of criticism towards House Democratic leadership, most notably against Rep. Nancy Pelosi, leader of the push to deny Duckworth a proxy vote. Pelosi is a mother herself and is at the forefront of efforts to pass legislation that would require businesses to provide pregnant employees with “reasonable accommodations” so that they can continue to work for as long as possible. However, she and many other Democrats voted against providing such a reasonable accommodation for Duckworth.
Pelosi defended her decision, saying, “You’re going to establish a situation where you’re going to determine who has a note from the doctor that’s valid…it’s really a place we shouldn’t go down.” The decision to allow Duckworth to vote by proxy could have allowed any Congressperson to skip voting because of health problems, family emergencies or other personal issues. While this rationale of the Caucus’s decision makes sense, the decision itself was a mistake.
Following the midterm elections and the losses suffered by the party, House Democrats have begun to voice grievances against party leadership. A “yes” to Duckworth’s proposal could have been a way for Pelosi and other Democratic leaders to unite the party behind shared core values of fair treatment for women. Instead, the proxy vote issue has further alienated many Democrats who see Pelosi and her supporters’ decision as hypocritical. This internal conflict within the party continues to simmer and could pose problems for the Democrats who need to remain united in the face of the republican majority.
More important than internal party politics, Duckworth’s request was a missed opportunity for the Democratic Party to show both their supporters and their opponents that they are committed to practicing what they preach. Allowing Duckworth to vote by proxy would have demonstrated that the Democratic Representatives would take meaningful action to fulfill their promise to help pregnant women gain access to fair accommodations during their pregnancies. Additionally, because Duckworth is a veteran and an amputee, a “yes” vote would have been a nod to Duckworth’s status as an American hero and a show of support to all veterans at a time when many of them are feeling left behind by the federal government.
The Democrats have used the slogan “When Women Succeed, America Succeeds” as a way to gain votes. And many consider them to be the party that fights for women’s rights because of their stances on issues such as abortion, fair treatment during pregnancy and access to contraception. Yet the treatment of Duckworth seems to go against everything the party stands for. Although Pelosi’s reasoning to deny Duckworth a proxy vote is rational, she and her allies have completely missed the point. Would more proxy vote requests come in by allowing Duckworth such a vote? Yes. Would that mean hard decisions on proxy votes in the future? Yes. Would it have alienated their female constituents? Not a chance.
Pelosi and her allies neglected to think about how denying Duckworth her vote would look and feel to the millions of women, including myself, who support the Caucus. It looks as if Duckworth was denied her vote because she was pregnant. She didn’t break her ankle, she didn’t get cancer, a family member didn’t pass away—all things that anyone, male or female, could request a proxy vote for—Duckworth was pregnant. If Democratic leaders think their constituents, particularly their female base, will overlook their denial of a pregnant woman the ability to do her job because it might mean more work for them, then they are mistaken. Women will remember in part because Republicans will remind us of this during the next election cycle.
Over the next decade some of us will become mothers, some of us will become significant others to mothers, all of us will have friends, sisters or co-workers who are mothers. It is crucial for us to hold lawmakers accountable now for how they treat women, especially pregnant women because, as scary a thought as it is, before long it will be us and our loved ones asking for reasonable accommodations from our employers so that we can safely bring our children into the world. •
