She Brought Her Newborn to Congress
Originally published by E.J Dickson for The Cut
Working mothers are famously good at multitasking, but perhaps no one exemplifies this more than Representative Brittany Pettersen. Last month, the Colorado congresswoman went viral for an impassioned speech she gave on the House floor when voting against a Republican budget proposal — all while cradling her 4-week-old infant, Sam, in her arms.
“Unfortunately, I wasn’t given the opportunity to vote remotely after giving birth,” Pettersen said. “But I wasn’t going to let that stop me from being here to represent my constituents and vote ‘no’ on this disastrous Republican budget proposal.” She criticized the Trump administration for focusing on “ripping health care away from kids, moms, seniors, and others who need it most” while providing tax cuts for billionaires.
The powerful image of Pettersen cradling her newborn son in her arms drew attention to bipartisan legislation Pettersen co-authored proposing that members of Congress be allowed to vote by proxy if they are pregnant or have just given birth. Though a discharge petition forcing members to vote on the bill garnered 218 signatures, a majority of the House, Speaker Mike Johnson killed it on the grounds that it was “unconstitutional.” The bill, Pettersen says, forces her colleagues in the House to demonstrate “whether they actually believe that we should make Congress more accessible for young women and for young families,” she told me when we spoke on the phone the other day, her infant son occasionally crying in the background. “And I can tell you I don’t think that all of my colleagues agree that people like me should be there.”