Talk to the Women you Know About Scott Garrett
Of the 666,551 residents in New Jersey’s 5th Congressional District, 51.4% of them (342,572) are women. 73 – 75% of those women are of voting age. I can’t tell you how many of the approximately 253,500 women are registered to vote, or how many vote on a regular basis. What I can tell you is that in the last presidential election year, Scott Garrett’s vote count was 165,271. That was good enough for Garrett to garner 56.3% of the 293,733 votes cast and easily win re-election. Redistricting has changed these numbers, but only slightly.
It’s up to all of us to educate the women in our lives that a vote for Scott Garrett is a vote against the rights of women. Reproductive rights are a hot top these days in Washington. Scott Garrett opposes women having control over how, when and if they will reproduce. He also opposed attempts to prevent women from being able to take action legal action with their employer for being underpaid when compared to men doing the same work.
Scott Garrett voted against The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act that eventually became law. The law simply says that workers cannot be expected to file suit for compensation for wage discrimination before they actually find out that they’ve been discriminated against. The Supreme Court decided against a worker named Lilly Ledbetter, declaring that workers must file a lawsuit within a few months of the time that wage discrimination begins, even if they are unaware of the discrimination at the time. So the first paycheck a woman receives that’s less than a man doing the same job at the same company, the clock begins ticking even if the woman doesn’t find out she’s been under-paid for years. The Lily Ledbetter Act changes the start of the clock to the time the woman becomes aware she’s being unfairly compensated. I can think of no valid reason Scott Garrett would oppose this common sense approach to protect working women.
He voted to prohibit funds from being made available for any purpose to Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. or any of its affiliates. Planned Parenthood is the only source of preventative health care available to millions of American women. Only 3 percent of the services provided by the organization are related to abortion type services. The remaining 97% of services provide women with such things as breast cancer screenings, pap-smears, birth control and the testing, treatment and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases.
He voted to prohibit health insurance companies from offering abortion coverage in a plan to anyone, even to citizens who pay for the coverage themselves, if just one person buys into the plan with the help of a federal subsidy.
I realize that very few of us are single-issue voters. But some issues are litmus tests; civil rights ; voting rights; the rights afforded us all in the Constitution. It’s not just women, but it’s rather most residents in the 5th Congressional District here in New Jersey that don’t know much about Scott Garrett and what he believes or how he votes. Unfortunately we his constituents are not alone as a majority of Americans can’t identify who represents them in Congress.
It’s up to the people who are paying attention to take the time and educate our friends and family about Scott Garrett and his voting record. Scott Garrett’s record as it relates to women is the low-hanging-fruit of this process. Start with the women you know. Educate them about their member of Congress and how his votes directly impact their lives. Encourage them to vote. Encourage them to engage in the process. After all, every race begins with a first step.
