Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) called House Speaker Johnson (R-R.) “anti-family” efforts to allow women to vote by proxy after giving birth.
in Social Platform X ThreadsLuna explained her proposed position on Wednesday. She said she had been talking to Mr Johnson for months about a bipartisan effort to allow mothers to vote while staying at home with their newborns. On Wednesday, she said she was informed he would not support it.
“This, among other things, is where I fundamentally disagree with him,” Luna wrote, later adding: “This is not only anti-family, it's also a slap in the face to the hundreds of thousands of voters who send their representatives to represent them in D.C.” ”
Luna told The Hill that the Speaker has not authorized a vote on the issue.
“He doesn’t let it come to the floor,” Luna said.
She has filed an expulsion petition on the issue, which will be voted on if 218 House members sign it. But Luna said he doesn't expect there will be enough support from Democrats to trigger a vote.
Republicans worry that allowing proxy voting in some situations could create a slippery slope. They had previously argued in court that it was unconstitutional.
Luna became frustrated last year at the lack of a mechanism to vote on her behalf after suffering serious complications when giving birth to her son in August.
She joined forces with Rep. Sarah Jacobs (D-Calif.) to introduce a resolution that would amend House rules to allow members to vote by proxy up to six weeks after giving birth.
The proposal is not exactly what Democrats wanted because it excludes fathers and adoptive parents, but Luna narrowed the scope because he wanted to make it harder for either party to oppose.
Luna said in a post Wednesday that she has heard from women in Congress and young men on both sides of the aisle who say they are discouraged by this and feel pressured not to have children because they can't vote. Ta.
“Women should not have to choose between representing their constituents and having children. [Unless] “If Congress accepts changes that reflect American family values, we will have no true representation in Washington, D.C.,” Luna wrote.
Proxy voting did not exist on the House floor before the COVID-19 pandemic, but it has proven to be a useful tool as the virus spreads across the country.
The issue was hotly debated as some members were using the tool to record their votes when participating in political events. It ended with Republicans regaining the House majority.
In February, a federal judge in Texas ruled that proxy votes cast during the pandemic should not count toward the institution's quorum, casting doubt on their validity.
Contributed by Emily Brooks.
