Shervin Aazami is running to be the first progressive Iranian to serve in the House of Representatives. This is more than a political campaign – this is a people-powered, progressive movement. With your help, we can take this movement to Washington to bring real change to CA-32.

John,

Today is International Women's Day, a day to celebrate, uplift, and champion the voices of women across the country and the world.

Women make up half our schools, half our workforce, and half of our population. But John, the America we're living in today has put women's most fundamental rights, freedoms, and well-being under attack.

Without policy interventions, the gender pay gap has stubbornly continued and disproportionately impacts Black, Latinx, and Indigenous women. Lack of equal pay for equal work also has significant economic effects, reducing the GDP by at least $500 billion in 2019 alone. And because of societal gender roles, lack of universal childcare, and paid family leave more women, especially women of color, in cycles of poverty. And in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, maternal mortality rates surged by nearly 20% - with Black and Latinx women dying at significantly higher rates.

With the Supreme Court's most recent decision to let Texas's draconian anti-choice bill become law, we're facing a pivotal moment in history. And just this week we saw Democrats fail to legislatively guarantee the right to an abortion because of obstructionists like Joe Manchin.

Last year we saw over 147 anti-trans bills introduced in state legislatures, infringing on basic human rights in areas ranging from bathroom access to athletics to healthcare. Trans people are at much higher risk of eviction, workplace discrimination, exposure to sexual assault and police violence, and incarceration. We must be intersectional in our efforts to secure equity for all.

Fighting for gender equality isn't just a one-day event. Building a more equitable, just world requires consistent work from us all. As the next representative for CA-32, you can count on me to carry that fight to Washington to secure necessary policies such as:

• Permanently repeal the Hyde Amendment and codify the right to an abortion in federal law
• Fully fund Title X programs so that low-income and BIPOC women have comprehensive public health care
• Pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, the Equality Act, and the Equal Rights Amendment

Thank you, John.

- Shervin Aazami