Women’s Rights

Max strongly opposes efforts by states around the country that instituted draconian abortion laws that clearly infringe on a women’s right to choose, putting the constitutional rights confirmed in Roe v. Wade on trial at the Supreme Court. Max believes that we must codify Roe v. Wade into a federal statute, and while in congress Max cosponsored the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would do just that.

Max was an active member of the Pro-Choice Caucus, and believes that everyone deserves both equal access to reproductive health care, no matter where they live, as well as the right to make personal decisions about their helathcare, and seek abortion care without interference from any politician. He cosponsored the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH Woman) Act, to make sure that every woman, no matter what type of insurance they have, or if they're low-income, has the freedom to choose.

Max was also proud to advocate for and vote for the for the Violence Against Women (VAWA) Reauthorization Act, to expand the prohibition against gun possession to those who commit violence against a dating partner. Nearly half of all intimate partner homicides are committed by dating partners. Max introduced and passed a bipartisan amendment to the VAWA Reauthorization Act that would require domestic violence hotlines to include the voluntary feature of text messaging to ensure all methods of communication are available to those in need so that even when they can’t call, women can always seek help. And he worked with RAINN to reauthorize the Debbie Smith Act, a federal grant program for state crime labs to finally process the unconsionable backlogs of rape kits.

Finally, Max has fought and will continue to fight to ensure that we have equal pay in this country. Women and men should earn an equal income when they are doing equal work—full stop. Today, women who work full time, year-round are paid, on average, only 82 cents for every dollar paid to men, resulting in a gap of over $10,000 each year. On average, Black women are typically paid 63 cents, Native American women 60 cents, Latinas just 55 cents, and Asian American and Pacific Islander women are paid as little as 52 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men. This is completely unacceptable. Max was proud to cosponsor and vote to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, which strengthens and closes loopholes in the Equal Pay Act, which was passed in 1963 and desperately needs modern updating. The Paycheck Fairness Act would finally provide effective remedies to women who are not being paid equal wages for equal work. It also protects against retaliation for discussing salaries with colleagues.