Children and Families

Marty is proud of the laws that have been passed to support children and families, but she understands there is more work to be done. Marty works every day to improve children’s educational opportunities.

Our urban neighborhoods must be more child friendly. Marty supports a new Esplanade PlaySpace so older children have an outdoor space to play and get exercise.

To protect the rights of nursing mothers and promote infant health, Marty voted for a law guaranteeing the right of women to breast feed in public. She also supported the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Advisory Council and the establishment of a new council on Post-Partum Depression, so we know how best to help families dealing with these difficult issues.

To stop the unsafe abandonment of unwanted babies, Marty voted for the Baby Safe Haven law, which allows parents to surrender their newborns, 7 days of age or younger, to appropriate personnel at hospitals, police departments, or certain fire stations. She also supported legislation to increase the safety of children in cars by requiring that they ride in either car seats or booster seats until the age of eight.

Marty knows that good nutrition is essential for a successful education. She supported the new school nutrition law, which requires that only foods meeting established nutritional standards be sold in public schools during school hours.

Families must have health insurance that meet their needs. Marty is proud that health insurers must now cover care for children with mental illness and children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Marty’s work on behalf of children with Autism earned her the 2010 “Legislator of the Year” award from Advocates for Autism of Massachusetts.

Because Marty knows that overall health cannot be achieved without good oral health, she supported an omnibus oral health law to expand access to this vital care.

To protect our children from those who would harm them, Marty and her colleagues have strengthened child abuse and neglect laws, child labor laws, and passed the most sweeping sex offender legislation since the creation of the sex offender registry.

To prevent poisoning of children and family pets, Marty supports a new law requiring a bittering agent be added to anti-freeze.