Another Day, Another Allen Failure to Stand Up for Virginia Women
Another Day, Another Allen Failure to Stand Up for Virginia Women
Richmond, VA - Yesterday Virginia Democrats offered George Allen a simple chance to prove to Virginia women that despite his record, despite the rhetoric of his campaign, he was still capable of standing on his own two feet and supporting commonsense legislation aimed at ending gender pay discrimination.
Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the Virginian-Pilot reports that the former Senator blew it:
"The Democrat-backed legislation would beef up existing equal-pay laws by protecting women from retaliation when they sue for gender discrimination.
". . . an Allen spokeswoman, wouldn't say where Allen stands on the measure."
While many Virginians may wonder what George Allen finds so difficult about saying "I support the Paycheck Fairness Act to ensure that women are not paid less for doing the same job as men," taken in the context of Allen's long record of turning his back on Virginia women, this latest failure makes more sense.
This is not the first time Allen has refused to support paycheck equity legislation. While running for congress he opposed overwhelmingly bipartisan legislation that would provide women with recourse to fight wage discrimination, and he even voted against the Family and Medical Leave Act that made sure no parent had to choose between taking care of a sick kid and keeping their job.
In addition to his failure to support paycheck fairness legislation, Allen has long been a reliable vote to strip women of the right to make their own health care choices. He supports federal "personhood" legislation that could jeopardize contraception and endorsed the Blunt amendment in the U.S. Senate that would have given employers the right to deny female employees coverage for birth control. He has also continuously refused to condemn Bob McDonnell's forcible ultrasound legislation.
At a time when Virginia Republicans are going out of their way to turn back the clock on women's rights, the last thing we need is six more years with a Senator who refuses to support paycheck fairness legislation and has no problem backing the GOP crackdown on women's health care rights. The last thing we need is six more years of George Allen.
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