We Wouldn’t Accept An Anti-Choice US Senator Confirming Our Judges. We Shouldn’t Accept An Anti-Choice Governor’s Councillor Who Does

Hi Everyone,

The United States Senate confirms our federal judges. In Massachusetts, our state judges are confirmed by the Governor's Council. So it's critical that our Governor's Councillors are pro-choice and absolutely certain that any judicial nominee who may be in a position to rule on any case involving abortion is pro-choice.

I'm running to be the first public defender on the Governor's Council, against long-time incumbent Marilyn Devaney. Unfortunately, she has a long anti-choice history you need to know about. She has repeatedly been the endorsed candidate of anti-choice organizations, including Massachusetts Citizens for Life PAC, Democrats for Life, Massachusetts Citizens for Life, and was recommended by Massachusetts Resistance, which the Southern Poverty Law Center labeled a hate group the very same year they recommended Marilyn Devaney for District 3 and gave her a top rating.

Those anti-choice groups knew what they were doing. Marilyn Devaney was the one they wanted to win, and their investments paid off just last year when Claudine Cloutier, a donor to both National Right to Life and to the Susan B. Anthony Candidate Fund, which endorses "pro-life candidates for Congress and public office", was nominated to be a judge in our Superior Courts.

At the Governor's Council hearing on July 13, 2022, Councillor Eileen Duff cited those donations and said to Claudine Cloutier, "I need you to say, 'I will defend a woman's right to choose under the laws of Massachusetts.'" The nominee refused, saying, "You're asking me to promise a result on a case that is not yet before me and that I cannot even imagine at this point." The nominee even went on to say she could not imagine "...under what scenario that particular question would come before a Superior Court judge. I have not seen that. I am not privy that."

Claudine Cloutier was wrong. Mass.Gen.Laws. Ch 112, Sec. 12R clearly states that when someone 15 or under cannot get parental consent for an abortion as required by law, they may obtain consent by appearing before a Superior Court judge.

One week after that hearing, on July 20, 2022, the Governor's Council reconvened to vote on the nominee. Councillor Terry Kennedy stated he had called the nominee after the hearing to ask if she would recuse herself on abortion cases, and she refused to say that she would. He voted no. Right after Terry Kennedy voted no, Marilyn Devaney said, "She is what we need. Please. Let's have more people like Claudine." Watch at the 2:02 mark.

The laws of Massachusetts made my whole life possible. Thanks to the laws of the Commonwealth I was able to end an unplanned pregnancy at the age of 19. It made my education possible. It made my work as a public defender possible. It made my daughter possible. That's why defending reproductive rights is my top priority. Everyone in Massachusetts must have the same rights and freedoms that I did when I was only 19.

Voters deserve the facts, and my duty as your candidate is to make sure you have them. You also have my word that I will absolutely never vote to confirm a nominee unless I am absolutely certain they are 100% pro-choice. I recently joined Indivisible Massachusetts for a day of action to protest so-called "pregnancy crisis centers", which masquerade as clinical centers but only provide misinformation instead of medical care. No anti-choice organization will ever endorse me, and the reason is simple. I'm not the one they want to win. 

Voters need to be informed, so they can vote for the pro-choice candidate who will fight for reproductive rights in Massachusetts. We came so close last year, we only need 50 more votes per town to win next year. All we need to do is increase our outreach and educate more voters, and we will elect the first public defender to the Governor's Council, and someone who will always defend the right to choose. Please pass this on, and please give generously. Women's lives, their education, and their families are depending on it.

Take Care,

Mara