Photo: Our bus trip to the State House in January 2020, meeting with Senator Cyr

“The Roe Act is about continuing to make sure that we safeguard a woman’s ability to access reproductive health care and a woman’s right to choose in an increasingly hostile federal environment. We want to make it clear that we will continue to protect these rights regardless of what happens at the federal level.”

State Senator Julian Cyr on passing the Roe Act in MA
The Provincetown Independent, November 7, 2019

State Senator Julian Cyr has been a Cape Cod Women for Change ally of since he was first elected. He has supported and often co-sponsored every piece of legislation we support and advocate.

He believes that women’s reproductive rights should be protected, and he has put those beliefs into action by cosponsoring three important pieces of legislation this session, each still waiting for committees or the House, to vote.

On The Roe Act

Senator Cyr fully supports the ROE Act, one of the most important pieces of legislation we’ve supported since we began in 2015. The ROE Act will protect women’s reproductive rights in MA should the US Supreme Court chip away at, or overturn ROE v. Wade. Senator Cyr is a champion and a co-sponsor of this legislation, he understands the increasing urgency:

I am a strong and passionate supporter of and cosponsor of the ROE Act. I am determined to see this bill come out of the Judiciary Committee and be passed by the Senate as soon as possible.

On Child Marriage

We have supported and advocated for an Act to End Child Marriage for several legislative sessions. This legislation would establish a minimum age for marriage in Massachusetts. Currently, MA is one of only a few states where, with a parent’s permission, a child of any age can marry. Marrying young deprives young women of reaching their full potential and often means a girl is marrying an older man. The Senate passed this legislation, but the House has yet to vote on it.

Senator Cyr understands the issue, supports it and voted to pass an “Act to End Child Marriage”:

I strongly supported, co-sponsored, and voted for Senate Bill 2294 (An Act to End Child Marriage) this year and look forward to this legislation being eventually passed by both branches and signed into law.

On The Healthy Youth Act

The The Healthy Youth Act would establish a standard and inclusive sexual education curriculum for schools who have decided to offer sexual education, it ensures districts that offer sex education teach age-appropriate, medically accurate information, including teaching consent, the benefits of delaying sex, how to build healthy relationships, and how to prevent pregnancy and STDs when people do have sex. It would require the curricula used to be LGBT-inclusive and would continue to allow parents and guardians to take their children out of school-based sex education.

We have supported The Healthy Youth Act in past sessions, and this session it remains in committee, we are hopeful it will be voted out of committee and will be put on the floor of the House and Senate for a vote.

Senator Cyr is has cosponsored The Healthy Youth Act in this and the last legislative session:

I have strongly supported, co-sponsored , and voted for the Healthy Youth Act in the 2017/2018 session and this 2019/2020 session. Most recently voting for a successfully proposing an amendment to S.2459 which passed in January.

 

Julian is running unopposed this year. We are lucky that he is our Senator and understands the issues important to Cape Cod Women for Change. We look forward to working with him for the rest of this session, and in the next session beginning in January!

Cape Cod needs Senator Julian Cyr!

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We recently consulted with leaders from our national group and learned that we can endorse state candidates if we follow protocol. All candidates were offered a questionnaire, have responded to our requests to support legislation and, or have actually met with our leadership.