This Tuesday’s election in Massachusetts will make or break President Obama and the Democrat’s legislative agenda for the next year. Democrat Attorney General Martha Coakley is running a surprisingly competitive race against Republican State Senator Scott Brown to replace Ted Kennedy in the US Senate. Many pundits and experts never expected this race to be competitive for the Democrats. Massachusetts is a notoriously liberal state, and a Republican has not represented Massachusetts in the Senate for decades. Yet Brown and the Republican Party have capitalized on Republican anger and Democratic apathy in this race, and current polls show Brown within striking distance of winning.

If Brown is elected, he has promised to vote against and filibuster the healthcare reform bill. Brown’s election would mean that the Senate would likely move to a standstill. In the current 60-vote culture of the Senate, 41 Republican votes would mean the Republican Party could filibuster any meaningful legislative efforts.

Those of us who care about reproductive and sexual health should also care about Brown’s voting record. In 2005, Senator Brown sponsored an amendment to a bill which allowed doctors to dispense emergency contraceptives to rape victims. His amendment exempted hospital employees from complying with the law if they had religious justification. Many believed that Brown’s amendment would have weakened the final bill to create a major loophole. Even Republican Minority Leader Brian Lees denounced Brown’s effort, saying: “I can't believe what we're doing to this bill. Talk about a poison pill amendment, no pun intended. This is unbelievable. We are saying to women who have been through a traumatic experience, 'by the way there may be some folks in hospitals that don't want to help you so you might have to go somewhere else.’” Major reproductive health organizations in Massachusetts, including NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, Planned Parenthood, The Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus and Massachusetts NOW have all endorsed Coakley and criticized Brown’s record on issues related to women’s health.[1]

We don’t make formal endorsements on Amplify for political candidates, but if you feel moved to get involved before the election on Tuesday, you can help, even if you don’t live in Massachusetts. Organizing for America is providing opportunities for activists to phone bank in support of Martha Coakley from their home to voters in Massachusetts. I’ve already made some calls, and hope to make some more on Monday.

You can find that link here- http://my.barackobama.com/page/votercontact/login?requested=/page/votercontact/make_calls%3Fcampaign_id%3DfnrU

In the name of being bi-partisan, here is a link to Scott Brown’s website. His campaign is also running phonebanks from home.

 http://www.brownforussenate.com/