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New Mexico Congresswoman elected chair of Democratic Women's Caucus
Democratic congresswoman Teresa Leger Fern谩ndez makes her victory speech during the Democratic Party of New Mexico Election Night Watch Party at the Isleta Casino and Resort on the Pueblo of Isleta in November. Leger Fern谩ndez won another election on Friday: chair of the House Democratic Women's Caucus.
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New Mexico Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fern谩ndez will chair the House Democratic Women鈥檚 Caucus in the next Congress.
With 96 incoming members, the DWC will be larger than ever before. The caucus advocates for causes that affect women, like ensuring birth control is covered by health insurance or pushing for the child tax credit.
鈥淲hen (President-elect Donald) Trump and his Republican allies are going to do something that hurts women, we will call that out,鈥� Leger Fern谩ndez said.
Leger Fern谩ndez was DWC vice-chair in the 118th Congress. She replaces outgoing Chair Rep. Lois Frankel of Florida, who called Leger Fern谩ndez a 鈥渢errific leader to steer DWC.鈥�
With a Republican White House and a Republican-controlled Congress, the caucus will look for bipartisan wins, Leger Fern谩ndez said. One fight she鈥檚 expecting is to save Head Start.
鈥淭he Project 2025 and many of the people that (Trump) is bringing into his cabinet want to get rid of Head Start. Well, we know that Head Start is really important to women, because if they are able to drop off their children at Head Start, they can then go to work,鈥� Leger Fern谩ndez said.
She also anticipates more attempts to overturn the Food and Drug Administration approval of mifepristone. Mifepristone blocks one of the hormones needed for a pregnancy to continue 鈥� progesterone 鈥� and can be used with another medication to terminate a pregnancy up to 10 weeks. The FDA first approved it in 2000.
The Supreme Court preserved access to mifepristone in June when it ruled that abortion opponents did not have the legal right to sue over the drug鈥檚 FDA approval. But at least one other lawsuit trying to limit mifepristone, and several challenging restrictions on the drug, are ongoing.
The most challenging part of advocating for women in the next Congress will be the sheer number of policies and statements from the Trump administration 鈥渢hat hurt America鈥檚 women,鈥� Leger Fern谩ndez said.
The DWC will focus on lowering costs for women, making sure they can prosper economically, reproductive health care freedom and protecting women from sexual assault.
鈥淕iven the nature of the President Elect鈥檚 nominations, we do believe it is going to be very important ... to make sure that we talk about the importance of protecting women from sexual violence,鈥� Leger Fern谩ndez said.
Cathy Cook is a news reporter for the 近距离内射合集. Reach her via email at ccook@abqjournal.com.
