Thank you to all those who attended VP Kamala Harris’ Speech today in Waukesha.  I was unable to attend as I was meeting with a community leader in WI 1st CD. During that meeting, we were creatively strategizing on problem-solving issues that we are working on now and I will continue to work on when I am elected as the first woman to hold the Seat of Representative of the First Congressional District of Wisconsin.

 

When I hold that seat, I will likely be the only person in the House of Representatives who is a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist, CDC Diabetes Prevention Lifestyle Coach, and an RN/FNP with an extensive work history. I have direct experience as an RN in multiple healthcare areas. I have nursing faculty and executive volunteer leadership experience.  I have experience in family planning, human sexuality education, and reproductive challenges including miscarriages, unintended pregnancies related to lack of knowledge, lack or misuse of birth control, rape, incest, etc.

 

Often decades after the occurrence, I was the first person that women told that they were victims of rape or incest. Many suffer from eating disorders and difficulties controlling diabetes.  I have listened to the stories of teenage girls who were removed from their homes when they became pregnant, sent away to schools or institutions until their babies were born, and then forced to give their babies away.

 

I have cared for women with high-risk pregnancies and the perinatal consequences associated with them.  I listen to the people I care for.  In Contemporary society, a woman’s defined family could be quite variable including herself, her partner, siblings, donors, surrogates, and extended family members.  There needs to be a healthcare provider with experience in real reproductive care who knows contemporary human, ethical,  and legal rights and needs to make the decision-making for the people affected by our complex reproductive FREEDOMS. Society must remember that when considering all our rights CHURCH and STATE must be held separate.

 

My personal story is that I am Catholic, and I love babies. I know my body and when I was likely to conceive.  I had difficulty conceiving my third child.  I had to have a procedure that would be considered illegal in some states today to have a successful third pregnancy with a positive outcome.  

 

It is not my right to judge or tell another woman or family what to do concerning their reproductive decisions, each person has the FREEDOM in this county to make autonomous decisions related to their reproductive health.

 

When I am a member of Congress, I will also fight for family leave for parents and grandparents if it is needed to assist in the maximum loving nurturing care of the infant in the first months of life. I will support maximum lactation education and clinical support by qualified lactation specialists, and provision of lactation assistive devices coverage and employment support time necessary for successful lactation provision.  For women and families that choose not to breastfeed, are not physically able to do so or if the infant needs specialized formula or formula supplementation, I WILL never let our country be in a formula crisis that recently sent families in a panic to provide nutrition to their infants.   

When I am elected to Congress I will already have expert direct experience and knowledge to research and write the legislation needed to improve and protect women and family reproductive care.So, Neighbors near to me in the 1st Congressional District of Wisconsin and those farther away in other parts of the State of Wisconsin and the whole USA please support having the first woman elected to the 1st CD of Wisconsin.