Katherine Clark vows to stand up for women’s health care and reproductive rights in Congress

MALDEN – State Senator Katherine Clark pledged on Tuesday to be a champion in Congress for a woman’s access to health care, family planning, and the right to make her own reproductive choices.

“I’m sick and tired of extremist Republicans trying to play politics with women’s health care,” Clark said. “These incessant attacks on health care providers like Planned Parenthood have the potential to restrict women’s access to basic medical care, like physical exams and diabetes testing, cancer screenings, and tests for sexually transmitted diseases.”

As a state legislator, Katherine has been proud to partner with Planned Parenthood and NARAL ProChoice Massachusetts to protect women’s access to health care. During her 2010 campaign for State Senate, NARAL described her as “a champion for a woman’s right to choose” and “a strong voice at the State House and in her district for protecting privacy and promoting reproductive health.” She has also pushed to require public schools, if they decide to provide health education, to do so in a comprehensive and medically accurate way.

In Congress, Katherine Clark will join a body that has voted repeatedly to restrict reproductive rights, fought bitterly against the Violence Against Women Act, made multiple attempts to strip funding from Planned Parenthood, blocked the Paycheck Fairness Act, voted 41 times to repeal or defund Obamacare and its many protections for women’s health, and embraced the Blunt Amendment that tried to provide a loophole to insurers so they could block women’s access to contraception.

“Now, after generations of women like my mom and grandmother, fought so hard for women’s equality, the Republican Congress is pushing an anti-women agenda and threatening to undo decades of progress,” said Clark, who has made standing up for women’s rights a priority in her Pledge to Women and Families. “I won’t let the extremist Republicans in Congress turn the clock back on women’s rights.”

No one will fight harder than Katherine Clark to defend Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to choose. A former prosecutor, Katherine understands Congress must not be allowed to keep dragging its feet on common sense protections for women like renewing the Violence Against Women Act and cracking down on the plague of sexual assaults in the military. Katherine will prioritize the fight for equal pay in Washington, including passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act, because we must ensure that women are paid an equal day’s pay for an equal day’s work.

In Massachusetts, Katherine has been a leading voice for women in the workplace, co-sponsoring a bill to rein in any potential discrimination by legally defining comparable work. She has pushed for funding for the Center for Women and Enterprise (CWE), which has a proven track record of helping small business owners succeed, create jobs, and spur the economy.

As co-chair of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, Katherine has pursued tougher penalties for domestic violence in the State Senate. She passed a law extending restraining orders in domestic violence cases to also cover victims’ pets, which are often used as pawns in abusive relationships. Katherine has also fought to increase penalties for strangulation and for repeat restraining order violations.

“Securing women’s rights is fundamental to who we are as a country and who I am as a legislator,” Clark said. “The time is now to send a message to extremist Republicans that we will not compromise on progress for women.”

About State Senator Katherine Clark
Katherine was sworn in for her second term as a Massachusetts state senator representing Malden, Melrose, Reading, Stoneham, Wakefield and Winchester on January 2, 2013. She was first elected in March 2008 to the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

Senator Clark serves as the Chair of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary and Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse. She also serves on the Joint Committees on Public Health and Public Safety and Homeland Security. Senator Clark is a member of the Advisory Council for the Department of Early Education and Care. In 2011, Senator Clark was appointed to the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy Advisory Board at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Katherine has been endorsed by the Winchester Democratic Town Committee, IBEW Local 2222, IBEW Local 2321, the United Steelworkers Union Local 12012, Ironworkers Local 7, NAGE/IBPO/SEIU Local 5000, Teamsters Local 25, IBEW Local 123 and the Women's Campaign Fund. She has been placed "On The List" by EMILY's List and has the backing of Attorney General Martha Coakley , Melrose Mayor Robert Dolan, State Rep. Marjorie Decker, D-Cambridge, and State Rep. Paul Brodeur, D-Melrose.

Katherine and her husband Rodney are raising their three school-age boys in Melrose.