Women’s Rights:
Scott Peters is an ardent supporter of women’s rights, from health issues to equal pay for equal work, and his record in Washington reflects the strength of his support.
Scott cosponsored the Paycheck Fairness Act and supported a resolution recognizing the significance of Equal Pay Day. The Paycheck Fairness Act would strengthen the remedy, enforcement, and exception provisions in the existing Equal Pay Act, providing women the tools to identify unequal pay and hold employers accountable. In the face of obstruction from Congressional leadership, he signed the discharge petition to force an up-or-down vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act.
Scott is an original cosponsor of a measure recognizing the Women’s Economic Bill of Rights, because all women deserve equal pay for equal work, fair treatment in the workplace, access to paid family and medical leave, and basic economic security.
Scott has defended the rights of pregnant workers as a cosponsor of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which would ensure pregnant workers won’t be fired or denied reasonable accommodations at the workplace because of any physical limitations related to their pregnancy.
All women have the right to make their own health care decisions without interference from politicians. Scott cosponsored the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2013, which would codify Roe v. Wade, preventing states from imposing restrictions on abortion providers that are more burdensome than those restrictions imposed on medically comparable procedures. It would also prohibit states from banning abortion if a doctor believes continuing the pregnancy would harm a woman’s health, and it would establish guidelines for judges reviewing the constitutionality of state laws.
Women must also have reliable access to prescribed medication, without the interference of politicians. Scott cosponsored the Access to Birth Control Act of 2013 to ensure that pharmacies without prescribed medicine in stock must order it in a timely manner, inform the patient, refer a woman to another pharmacy that will fill the prescription, or transfer the prescription so that she can pick it up at a pharmacy confirmed to have the medication in stock. Pharmacies cannot harass, intimidate, or deceive women, nor can they breach medical confidentiality, force women to wait, or refuse to return a prescription.
Scott cosponsored the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which provides increased protections for victims of domestic violence, including expanded protections for Native American women, LGBTQ individuals, students, and immigrant women. He later opposed the Ryan Budget, which would slash support for the STOP Violence Against Women Program, leaving 64,000 victims without services.
We must be committed to keeping women healthy and safe while serving in the military. Scott cosponsored the MARCH for Military Women Act, which would extend federal health insurance coverage for abortion care to servicewomen who become pregnant as a result of rape or incest.
Scott cosponsored a bill that would remove the deadline for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, and declares that such amendment shall be part of the Constitution whenever ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states.
Scott cosponsored a resolution expressing calling on the Senate to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
LGBT Rights:
Scott supports full marriage equality, and is a cosponsor of the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in its entirety.
To protect against discrimination on the job, Scott is a cosponsor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, to prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity in the workplace.
Scott continues to fight to ensure that LGBT citizens receive the same benefits as all citizens, and cosponsored the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act to provide the same benefits to lesbian and gay federal civilian employees with domestic partners, as are already provided to employees with spouses.
Scott was also an original cosponsor of the Social Security Equality Act, which would provide couples in the states that recognize same-sex marriage with full access to the Social Security benefits, like survivor benefits, they pay into.
No American should have to choose between their job and their spouse’s health. Scott cosponsored the Family and Medical Leave Inclusion Act to expand the FMLA of 1993 to permit an employee to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave from work if his or her domestic partner or same-sex spouse has a serious health condition.
We must guarantee that students feel safe in school regardless of their sexual identity. Scott is an original cosponsor of the Student Non-Discrimination Act of 2013, to establish a comprehensive federal prohibition of discrimination in public schools based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity and provides victims with meaningful and effective remedies.
Scott is a strong supporter of Americans serving in the military, including all LGBT servicemembers. He is an original cosponsor of the Restore Honor to Service Members Act, to ensure that members of the armed forces who served honorably, but were discharged and given a punitive discharge classification because of their sexual orientation, have their records corrected to reflect their honorable service. This will finally allow them to access all the benefits normally given to our veterans.
Scott is also an original cosponsor of the Military Spouses Equal Treatment Act, a bill which ensures that same-sex spouses of veterans and service members will be afforded the same benefits as their heterosexual counterparts.
Civil Rights:
In 2013, the Supreme Court struck down several components of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965. Scott is a cosponsor of the Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2014 to ensure that all Americans are encouraged, not discouraged, to participate in the democratic process.
Scott has a strong record of supporting voter access, including co-sponsoring the Voting Empowerment Act of 2013 introduced by civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis after confusion and antiquated voting systems marred the 2012 election. The measure would remove practices that interfere with voters trying to cast their ballot, and expand voter access by taking advantage of existing technologies in order to modernize and simplify the voter registration process.
Scott voted to protect “DREAMers” from deportation, by defending funding to implement the President’s order to protecting DREAMers against deportation- those estimated 800,000 young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children and have since led law-abiding lives.