Women

Representative Scott Peters Advocates For Women

Since coming to Congress, Scott Peters has prioritized the equality, health, and safety of women. He has advocated for these causes through legislation and urges other lawmakers to follow his example.

I. FIGHTING FOR EQUALITY AND ENSURING OPPORTUNITY

Scott cosponsored:

• The Paycheck Fairness Act, which strengthened the Equal Pay Act. He also wrote a letter to Speaker Boehner, urging House Leadership to bring the Paycheck Fairness Act to the floor for a vote.
• The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which ensured pregnant workers wouldn't be fired or denied reasonable accommodations at the workplace because of any physical limitations related to their pregnancy. He also signed an amicus brief with over 100 members of Congress to the Supreme Court in the case of Young v UPS.
• A resolution that recognized the significance of Equal Pay Day to illustrate the disparity between wages paid to men and women.
• A resolution that expressed 1) the full realization of the rights of women is vital to the development and  well-being of people of all nations, and 2) the Senate should ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
• Scott cosponsored a bill that would amend the Constitution to declare that any government discrimination based on sex is unconstitutional.
• Scott also cosponsored a resolution recognizing a Women’s Economic Bill of Rights. The Resolution supports equal pay for equal work, fair treatment in the workplace, access to paid family and medical leave for men and women, economic and retirement security, and women business owners' access to capital and federal contracts.

II. DEFENDING WOMEN’S HEALTHCARE AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS    

Scott cosponsored:

• The Access to Birth Control Act, which would ensure that pharmacies without the prescribed medication in stock must order it in a timely manner, refer the woman to another pharmacy that will fill the prescription, or transfer the prescription so that she can pick it up at a pharmacy confirmed to have the medication in stock. This act says that pharmacies cannot harass, intimidate, or deceive women, nor can they breach medical confidentiality, force women to wait, or refuse to return a prescription.
• The Preventative Health Awareness Campaign, which would provide for the planning and implementation of a national public outreach and education campaign to raise public awareness about women’s preventive health services.
• The Accelerating the End of Breast Cancer Act of 2013, which would direct the president to establish the Commission to Accelerate the End of Breast Cancer to help end breast cancer by January 1, 2020.
• The Global Sexual and Reproductive Health Act of 2013. This bill would promote sexual and reproductive health by (1) permanently repealing the Global Gag Rule; (2) reducing the incidence of unsafe abortion by providing support for safe abortion care as well as care for women who experience complications from unsafe abortion; (3) ensuring that sexual and reproductive health services are provided at every phase of humanitarian emergency, with special focus on the needs of victims of sexual violence; and (4) ensuring comprehensive sexuality education.
• The Women’s Health Protection Act of 2013, which would codify Roe v. Wade, preventing states from imposing burdensome restrictions on abortion providers or banning abortion prior to viability or if a doctor believes that continuing pregnancy would harm a woman’shealth, and establishing guidelines for judges reviewing the constitutionality of states’ laws.

Scott Voted:

• To protect a woman’s right to choose, by voting against the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would have prohibited abortions in cases where the probable age of the fetus in 20 weeks or later.
• To mandate that insurance providers provide birth control coverage by voting against an amendment to an Appropriations bill that would have allowed companies to opt out of birth control coverage.

Scott wrote a letter to Darrah DiGiorgio Johnson, CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest, expressing support for the services the agency provides as PPPSW looks to expand into bordering counties.

III. GUARANTEEING SAFETY FOR WOMEN AND PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF SERVICEMEMBERS

Scott cosponsored:

• The Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which provides for increased protections for victims of domestic violence. The legislation includes expanded protections for Native American women, LGBTQ individuals, students, and immigrant women. This bill is now law.
• The SAFER Act (Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Reporting), which helps process the rape kit backlog by assisting local and state governments in conducting audits of rape kits in law enforcement storage facilities and increasing available funds for crime labs to process those kits.
• The MARCH for Military Women Act (Military Access to Reproductive Care and Health), which would extend federal health insurance coverage for abortion care to servicewomen who become pregnant as a result of rape or incest. It would also lift the current ban on providing abortion care at military facilities.

Scott Voted:

• To fund enhanced investigation of military sexual assault when he voted to pass an amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill that provides $10 million in additional funds to increase sexual assault training for investigators.
• For enhanced minimal sentences for Service members who commit sexual assault when he voted to pass Rep. Turner’s (R-OH) amendment to the appropriations bill for the Department of Defense.
• To protect whistleblower victims of military sexual assault through an amendment to the Department of Defense Appropriations bill that provided funding for the purpose of identifying individuals who were separated from the military on the grounds of a disorder subsequent to a sexual assault and correcting their records.