Colorado mother in Congress blocked from voting leads effort to change rules

U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen, a Lakewood Democrat, is unable to vote on legislation in Congress, because she cannot fly to Washington, D.C., so close to giving birth to her second child. (Photo from U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen’s office)

U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen, who is a few weeks away from giving birth to her second child, is leading an effort to allow new parents to vote remotely in Congress. 

Pettersen, a Lakewood Democrat, is unable to fly to Washington, D.C., due to medical and travel restrictions toward the end of pregnancy, leaving her unable to vote on legislation. She will be the 14th member of Congress to give birth while in office, and the first from Colorado. 

A bipartisan resolution she introduced would allow proxy voting for House members who are new parents, a measure she says is necessary to make Congress more accessible. 

“I’m grateful for the bipartisan partnership on something that the American people and our constituents overwhelmingly believe is common sense, and that you shouldn’t be precluded from doing your job just because you’re having a baby,” Pettersen told Newsline on Wednesday. “There are ways that we can allow proxy voting with the guardrails necessary so it’s (for) rare circumstances like this, and this is an important step forward to modernizing Congress and addressing the needs of the workforce of today.” 

Pettersen was in D.C. for the start of the 119th Congress, but flew back to Colorado last week, the last week she was able to fly. The House clerk marked her as “not voting” on eight pieces of legislation since Monday, including a measure that would bar transgender students from participating on women’s school sports teams consistent with their gender identity.

The resolution is co-sponsored by Reps. Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican, Sara Jacobs, a California Democrat, and Mike Lawler, a New York Republican. House Assistant Minority Leader Joe Neguse, a Lafayette Democrat, also sponsored the measure.

“No parent should have to choose between caring for their child, or recovering from childbirth, and fulfilling their duties in Congress to represent their constituents,” Luna said in a statement. “Congress needs to get with the times. This bipartisan proposal is vital in promoting a pro-family Washington, where every American has a voice and the unwavering representation they deserve.”

During her first term, Jacobs froze her eggs and “delayed starting a family partly because of the demands of this job and the constant travel,” she said in a statement. Allowing voting by proxy for new parents is a small step to make the federal government more representative of the country, she said. 

The representatives wrote a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson in December asking him to add a provision in the rules of the 119th Congress allowing for proxy voting. 

“We have to modernize Congress to make sure that the life experiences and the backgrounds of the people we represent are actually represented at the federal level,” Pettersen said. “It’s just unacceptable that there are no accommodations, and completely unfair that I’m unable to vote and do my job just because I’m having a child … It just shouldn’t be this way, and there’s very obvious steps forward in addressing it.”

If leadership doesn’t bring the resolution to a vote, sponsors will force a vote on it through a discharge petition 30 legislative days after it was introduced, Pettersen said. That would require 218 signatures in support of the resolution.

As a state lawmaker, Pettersen, after she had her first child, led legislation to allow Colorado parents to take paid leave. Colorado law previously restricted legislator pay for extended absences, so Pettersen had to categorize her absence as a “chronic illness” in order to be paid. She was the first Colorado legislator to request parental leave.