Dear Editors,
A recent letter to my VeronaNJ.com attempted to refute Jay Webber’s appalling record on women and on ordinary working people of New Jersey, but the people of this district are smarter than that. We are asked to believe that Webber supports women because he has women in his family who work (!) but his voting record and his public statements show that he has voted to deny women better healthcare access, deny them better protection against domestic abuse, and who has proudly and publicly declared that he has worked “his entire adult life” to ban abortions and limit women’s reproductive rights. The letter tried to justify Webber’s vote of NO on bill A2750/S992 which made it illegal for employers to discriminate between employees on the basis of sex or pay employees of one sex less than employees of the other sex, because the bill referred to “substantially similar work” rather than the same work. Why did he not then propose a correction to the bill that would have protected equal pay for women?
If you really want to know how Webber will treat women and what he thinks of our “equality”, check his record as as assemblyman. Here are some facts taken directly from his voting record.
A1211/S805: Webber voted AGAINST increased protection for victims of domestic violence. On bill A1211/S805 which required domestic abusers to surrender firearms while restraining orders against them were in effect and prohibited them from obtaining gun permits Webber voted NO. He has a 93% NRA rating.
A3492 Webber voted AGAINST a $7.5 million appropriation from the General Fund to the Department of Health for Family Planning Services.
Webber voted AGAINST funding for Planned Parenthood and expanding contraception in NewJersey. In fact, he has openly stated that he would like to see abortion banned completely. This has earned him the endorsement by the NJ Right to Life PAC.
Webber voted AGAINST the NJ Health Benefit Exchange and has openly declared his commitment to repealing Obamacare (The Affordable Care Act). He supports the GOP tex plan which lays the foundation for gutting Social Security and Medicare.
Webber stayed silent, even when many of his Republican colleagues spoke out, on family separation and refused to vote to condemn the separation of mothers and children coming across the border.
This is not the record of someone who believes women are equal and deserve access to protection from abuse and discrimination. This is the voting record of someone who thinks he has a right to make decisions on women’s bodies, and has vowed to do all he can to decide for women what health benefits they should and should not have. When given the chance to vote on a bill ensuring women’s equal pay, Jay Webber used a flimsy excuse on semantics to vote “NO” and has done NOTHING to replace the bill he helped to kill.
Check Jay Webber’s record and his actions, not just his words.
If women want a champion who will fight hard for their access to the best and widest health care, to equality in the work place, to their right to make decisions about their own bodies, and who would never stand by while children were ripped from their mother’s arms, they should vote for Mikie Sherrill on November 6.
Laura Morowitz
Verona
