Issue Position: Equal Rights For All

Issue Position

"In this free country it is self-evident that we are all created equal, endowed by our creator with the unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Ensuring women and victims of rape their right to self-determination

I could not believe that in this day and age women who are victims of rape did not have the right to emergency contraception at the hospital. To ensure rape victims have the right to decide their own future and avoid being forced to carry the child of their rapist, I pushed hard to pass a new law that requires all hospital emergency rooms to offer emergency contraception to victims of rape to prevent unwanted pregnancies. The Governor recently signed the bill into law.

Marriage Equality for all Hawaii families

Marriage Equality is about fulfilling our nation's promise of equal rights and freedom, and living up to Hawaii's values of welcoming all in the spirit of kindness and aloha. Until now, same-sex couples in Hawaii were denied more than 1100 rights and benefits enjoyed by other married couples, and churches supportive of marriage equality were denied their religious freedom to marry these couples in accordance with their religious beliefs. I stood up to help pass our bill which established equal rights for all couples and ensured the freedom of religious groups on both sides of the issue.

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