Don't let the name fool you. The Democrats' Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act is an empty promise, warns Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-AZ). In a recent conversation with her friend and colleague Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), she highlighted a few of the more dangerous aspects of the legislation. Rep. Lesko is a domestic violence survivor herself and has been very candid about how she escaped an abusive ex-husband. As such, she knows better than most in Congress as to how to protect women in similar situations. And the Democrats' changes to VAWA, she says, is not the right course.
"This is a radical bill that the Democrats are pushing through because it really violates women's privacy and safety," Lesko explains. "Basically, under penalty of federal law, requires women's domestic violence shelters to take in men and place them right next to women."
Don’t let the name fool you, the democrat’s Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act does NOT support women. As my colleague @RepDLesko points out, this bill blurs the lines of gender definitions, putting the most vulnerable women in danger. pic.twitter.com/Clj5PniWHB
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) March 17, 2021
She continues to explain that the bill also takes away religious organizations' First Amendment rights by forcing its provisions upon them. And, she adds, the bill takes away Second Amendment rights by going after suspects who don't even have felony convictions.
"They just want to take away their guns without any due process," she notes.
Lesko expanded on these points in a recent op-ed for Fox News, explaining how the Violence Against Women Act, while initially bipartisan, "has become a political vehicle for radical Democrat policies." President Biden was "ironically" one of the bill's original sponsors.
"Ironically, President Biden, the bill’s original sponsor in the U.S. Senate – along with retired Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah – will be signing a version of the bill so perverted by partisanship, it will hardly be recognizable to its original drafter," Lesko regrets. "If the House version prevails, Democrats and Biden will be making it clear that putting leftist gender ideology into federal law is a far greater priority than helping women in need."
With the Democrats in control of both the House and Senate, however, the bill has a much stronger chance of passing.