Duckworth To Be First Senator To Give Birth While In Office

UNITED STATES - MARCH 14: Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., speaks during the Senate Democrats' news conference to unveil the FAMILY Act on Tuesday, March 14, 2017. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth has announced that she’s pregnant with her second child. She will be the first U.S. senator to give birth while in office.

The 49-year-old Democrat, a veteran who lost her legs in the Iraq War, announced her pregnancy in a news release Tuesday.

Duckworth gave birth to her first child, a daughter, in 2014. The senator will be one of only 10 lawmakers who have given birth while in Congress.

Duckworth says, “As tough as juggling the demands of motherhood and being a Senator can be, I’m hardly alone or unique as a working parent.”

She adds that her first daughter, Abigail, “has only made me more committed to doing my job and standing up for hardworking families everywhere.”

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  1. Congrats, Senator, though I’m sure we’re all looking forward to the time when the makeup of Congress is such that this is no longer major news!

  2. Avatar for jinnj jinnj says:

    Congratulations Sen. Tammy Duckworth!
    Now I’m not sure which takes more courage

    • flying a helicopter in combat
    • giving birth at age 50 … Senator, you do realize that you will be going toe-to-toe with a snarky 15 year old at age 65 ! - good luck & best wishes!
  3. The fact that every single human being in the world was born from the womb of a woman, and yet this is the first time a U.S. Senator will have given birth in while in office, is one more reminder of how incredibly underrepresented women have been and still are.

  4. Giving birth at 50…by choice. Thats just short of insane, but she is free to do so. Hopefully she will have a healthy baby

  5. Dont you know…50 is the new 40!

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