Economic Justice, Not Abortion Bans: A Vision for Nevada’s Families
I am proud to announce that I am now a declared and official candidate for Congress in Nevada’s 2nd Congressional District as an Independent Democrat. As your candidate, I am listening carefully to our community about what matters most to working families. The conversation I keep hearing is about economic security, healthcare access, and the ability to raise children without financial devastation.
Reproductive freedom is essential to our well-being. I strongly supported Nevada’s state constitutional amendment protecting women’s right to choose in 2024 and will support it again. But the struggle for reproductive justice is only part of a much larger fight. The real crisis facing families in Nevada and across America is economic insecurity.
Our nation’s birthrate has fallen to historic lows, not because people don’t value family, but because too many simply cannot afford to have children. The costs of healthcare, childcare, and housing are crushing. With stagnant wages, no paid leave, and dwindling retirement security, starting or growing a family can feel impossible. In 2017, the U.S. fertility rate hit its lowest point since the 1970s.
Jenny Brown, in “Birth Strike: Hidden Fight Over Women’s Work,” argues that attacks on abortion and birth control are less about morality than about who will bear and pay for raising the next generation. Raising children requires enormous labor—physical, emotional, and financial—and society must support parents, not punish them.
The truth is undeniable: Women and families are refusing to bring children into a world where they are unsupported. Countries like Sweden show us a better way. There, parents receive generous paid leave, affordable childcare, and living wages, resulting in one of the highest birth rates in Europe. The U.S. offers none of these guarantees, relying instead on unpaid labor and economic pressure.
Too often, anti-abortion laws and rhetoric serve to distract from the real issue: economic justice. Wealthy families can always access safe care; poor women pay the highest price, sometimes with their lives. Every year, tens of thousands of women around the world die from unsafe abortions. Here at home, millions of children go to bed hungry every night while politicians cut social programs and attack women’s rights.
Let’s be clear—these policies are about controlling women, not protecting life. Powerful interests worry about who will work, serve in the military, and pay into Social Security. Rather than addressing low wages and economic insecurity, they try to force higher birth rates by restricting freedom and support.
This system especially harms families of color. Black infants die at more than twice the rate of white infants; children of color are more likely to suffer from diseases, mental health crises, and family separation. Instead of investing in struggling families, we pay foster parents while denying support to biological parents in need.
The solution is not more bans or bureaucracy, but real investment in Nevada families. We need universal healthcare, paid parental leave, affordable childcare, and strong Social Security and pensions. These are not radical ideas—they are proven policies that work around the world.
If elected, I will fight for:
Universal healthcare so no parent has to choose between a doctor’s visit and feeding their kids.
Paid parental leave so parents can bond with their newborns without risking their livelihood.
Affordable childcare so every child gets a strong start and every parent can work if they choose.
Living wages and workplace protections so families can thrive, not just survive.
Strong Social Security and pension systems, so children aren’t the only retirement plan.
An end to racial disparities in health, education, and family support.
This is the path to a Nevada where families are empowered, not trapped—where having a child is a joyful choice, not a financial risk. Countries like Sweden have proven that when we support families, birthrates rise naturally, without coercion or loss of rights.
The alternative is a society where freedom shrinks and inequality deepens. Too many politicians use moral outrage to distract from their refusal to address the real crisis: economic injustice. We can—and must—do better for Nevada’s families.
Our campaign is about building a future worth raising children in, where every family has the tools to succeed. As your Independent Democrat candidate, I invite you to join this movement for real solutions and real progress. Let’s put families, not special interests, at the center of our policies.
Thank you for your trust and support.
