Jeanne Shaheen, Speaker Terie Norelli Discuss Women's Health and Economic Issues at RiverRun Bookstore in Portsmouth

Press Release

Today, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen and New Hampshire Speaker of the House, Terie Norelli, visited the RiverRun Bookstore in Portsmouth to discuss the issues at stake in the November election and their work to expand economic opportunities for women. This week, Senator Shaheen is traveling around the state as part of her "A Senator New Hampshire Women Can Trust Tour," highlighting the stark differences between her and Scott Brown on the issues that matter most for New Hampshire women.

"I've spent my entire career fighting to protect women's access to health care and working to level the playing field for women in the workplace, and that's what's at stake in this year's election," said Shaheen. "Scott Brown's record on women's issues is clear and it is dangerous. He's voted to let women's bosses make their health care decisions for them. He's voted against equal pay and opposes raising the minimum wage. New Hampshire women deserve better, and they know I'll continue fighting for them in the Senate."

"Scott Brown's positions on women's issues belong in a Mad Men episode, not the United States Senate in the year 2014," said Norelli. "From his support of the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision and the Blunt Amendment to his opposition to equal pay for equal work, Scott Brown is wrong on the issues important to New Hampshire women. And we know he won't stand up to anti-woman extremists in his own party. When the NHGOP added a "personhood' amendment to their platform last month, Scott Brown simply stood by and watched."

For more than two decades, Jeanne Shaheen has worked to make a difference for women in New Hampshire, particularly on important economic issues. As a Senator, she cosponsored the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act, and as Governor, Shaheen signed into law legislation backed by Norelli that strengthened New Hampshire's equal pay protections. She has also introduced legislation to expand the childcare tax credit to help working families cope with the rising cost of child care.

Shaheen has also been a leader on women's reproductive rights. As Governor, she signed into law bipartisan legislation co-sponsored by Norelli that guaranteed insurance coverage for contraception. That legislation was backed by 120 Republicans and 121 Democrats in the New Hampshire State House. In the Senate, she helped introduce legislation to reverse the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision in order to protect women's access to birth control and contraception. She has also led the fight against the Republican plan known as the Blunt Amendment which would allow an employer to deny contraception coverage for their female employees.

While representing Massachusetts in the Senate, Scott Brown co-sponsored and voted for the Blunt Amendment. This year, he spoke out in support of the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision, and when the New Hampshire Republican Party decided to include a "personhood" amendment in its platform, Brown, who is the leader of his party's 2014 ticket, stood on the sidelines and did nothing. A "personhood" amendment would ban abortion, even in cases of rape and incest, outlaw most common forms of contraception, and ban in-vitro fertilization.

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