Moms with young children and nursing babies need your help!

The Democratic Party is refusing to allow moms who are elected delegates onto the floor of the Convention if they must bring breastfeeding babies or small children in tow. There are no accommodations for on-site childcare, leaving women with very few options.

Most moms will travel thousands of miles into a strange city to attend the Convention, with no access to a support network. Moms who show up with toddlers and babies from whom they cannot separate will be turned away at the door and kept from participating in delegate activities such as voting for the platform and choosing a Presidential nominee.

When you refuse to allow children into an event, you are by default refusing admission to their caregivers, most of whom are women. By not offering childcare, you are privileging mothers and fathers who have partners and/or money, and therefore excluding single parents and/or poorer families. It is a form of disenfranchisement that must end.

This practice presents women with an unfair choice between their child and their political obligations. It also discourages women from running for delegate positions at a time when women are largely underrepresented in all levels of government.

In 2012, women are looking to be fully engaged with their party, as delegates, as candidates, as leaders. It is time for the Democratic Party to explicitly demonstrate their inclusion of women and true family values.

In order to nominate candidates who reflect the views of ALL women, to adopt a platform that is reflective of the values of ALL Democrats, and to bring unity to our Party by giving ALL women a voice, the Democratic Party must reverse discriminatory policies that exclude parents and children at the Democratic National Convention.

We petition the Democratic Party to allow children six and under who cannot be left at home - some of whom are breastfeeding - onto the floor of the Convention, so that Moms can fully participate as elected delegates. We also ask that the Democratic Party provide on-site childcare.