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To say this election has been negative is an understatement. Nearly every conversation at a door –Democrat, Republican, or Unaffiliated – includes something about the negative ads on tv and on the internet. I know I am not alone when I say I am sick of them too. Unfortunately, negative misrepresentations have crept into my race – and it’s no surprise considering the tenor of some races in the area last year.
I appear to be criticized for votes on reproductive health, the environment, and guns. Let’s go through each one.
First off, I am pro-choice – I always have been. I agreed with Bill Clinton when he said abortion should be ‘safe, legal, and rare’ – as did many people, including 2016 Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton. I also believe that late term abortions are wrong, unless the life of the mother is at risk. As far as I can tell, these are mainstream positions. Reproductive rights have been in CT statute since 1990 and I’d never vote to roll them back or repeal them. I have also been a champion for extra rights for victims of rape or incest.
Women deserve the best care possible if they choose to terminate – and every woman, regardless of race or income, deserves access to a doctor. The recent legislation – HB 5414 – allowed for midwives to perform abortions.
I, and several Democrat women on the Black and Puerto Rican caucus, felt uncomfortable with this provision in the bill because we were worried that lower-income women would lose access to doctors. The CT Medical Society was also opposed because there was no training spelled out. As it stands, midwives will be practicing abortions on fruit and using a course from California – that doesn’t seem safe to me.
As for protecting women from other states who come to CT for an abortion – I, and the US Constitution – support their freedom and our state rights to give them that freedom here.
I am also being attacked for not opposing pregnancy crisis centers, like Birthright. These centers offer women a choice outside of termination. Not every woman questioning her pregnancy wants an abortion or wants to go to Planned Parenthood. Places like Birthright offer counseling for adoption and referrals for financial resources. Some Democrat legislators want to shut them down since they don’t offer abortion as well. These centers offer certain women a different choice and those who think they should be eliminated should reconsider their pro-choice stance.
I have been a leader on the environment for years. I am the only legislator sounding the alarm on our waste crisis. Many do not know this, but the governor and DEEP Commissioner are trucking our garbage out of state to be buried in landfills. How is that environmentally friendly and why are environment organizations ignoring the issue?
Also, my vote against SB 4 or “the clean air act” was for several reasons:
1. The bill forces us to follow California laws that are out of our control
2. We shouldn’t be using taxpayer dollars to subsidize EVs for wealthy people
3. We shouldn’t be putting more mandates on towns and landlords
4. An electric bus just exploded in Hamden and local firefighters were unable to quickly extinguish the flames. Shouldn’t we investigate the safety of these batteries before forcing our towns to install them in public transport?
5. Batteries for electric vehicles are produced using cobalt. Currently, cobalt is being mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo using slave and child labor. There are few environmental safeguards and African children are literally dying in order to satisfy the wealthiest among us. I find this reprehensible. When I questioned this, I was mocked and ignored – including by the environmental groups pushing the legislation.
I support legal gun ownership and believe people have the right to protect themselves and their families. I do not support taking away legal guns from law-abiding citizens unless there is a threat, a violent act, or signs of mental deterioration.
Many Democrats want to obstruct police officers from getting dangerous people off our streets and recent ‘gun control’ legislation would have made it even harder for them to do their job by removing them from certain tense situations involving guns.
In 2019, I proposed to increase penalties on criminals stealing guns and my legislation was defeated by every Democrat in Hartford…how is that common sense?
These are my beliefs and I stand by them. If you have questions, please e-mail me at
repdevincarney@gmail.com
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Carney, a Republican, is State Representative for Old Saybrook, Old Lyme and Lyme.