Kirsten Gillibrand's 'Family Bill of Rights' would give out baby starter packs to new families

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.
(Image credit: JOHN AMIS / Getty Images)

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) is laser focused on families.

From her campaign color choice to her past family leave proposals, the 2020 presidential contender has made it clear her campaign is all about boosting American women and families. And on Wednesday she took those priorities to the next level, unveiling an economic policy plan she's calling the "Family Bill of Rights."

Gillibrand's plan contains "five fundamental rights, backed up by bold policy proposals," she writes in a Wednesday blog post. "The right to a safe and healthy pregnancy" is paired with Gillibrand's pledge to "address the severe shortage of OB-GYNs in rural areas," she writes. "The right to give birth or adopt a child" comes with an expansion of taxpayer-funded adoption and anti-discrimination rules for adoptive or foster families.

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Gillibrand goes on to mention a paid family leave plan and universal child health insurance to ensure peoplecan care for sick loved ones and newborn children, and promotes universal pre-K to expand affordable child care. There's also "the right to a safe affordable nursery," which Gillibrand will cover via "baby bundles" containing "diapers, swaddle blankets, and onesies, all in a box with a small mattress that can be repurposed as a nursery bed," the blog post continues.

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The paid leave plan is "similar to a bill" Gillibrand has spent the past six years introducing in the Senate, The New York Times notes. That family focus might be why, after the first round of 2020 fundraising, Gillibrand was the only candidate who got more than half of her donations from women.

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Kathryn Krawczyk

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.