Election Candidate Forum: US Senate Candidate Pat Chesbro

Nome Nugget: What is your stance on abortion and what Congressional action would you support regarding abortion and/or contraception?

Pat Chesbro: I believe that health care, specifically reproductive health care, is a matter of privacy between people and their medical professionals. Hence, I support abortion access. After the Roe v. Wade decision was overturned, I spoke with four women who had abortions in their lives. All were already mothers. Each decision was personal and each was different. I also spoke to a man whose mother had chosen not to have abortion, though it was recommended by her Catholic physicians, when she was diagnosed with cancer while pregnant with him. Not having access to treatments for her disease, she died when he was young. He wonders how he would feel if the government had made the decision to complete the pregnancy that resulted in his mother’s death. He said he would feel both anger and guilt that the decision was other than his mother’s. Choice has many faces.

It seems obvious that the rights to control one’s reproductive health must now be codified into federal law. There are those who believe that their moral stance should be applied to everyone. Federal law must protect everyone’s rights.

It appears that contraception is also under attack by those who would choose to make decisions for others. Oberlin College learned that their new health care provider would not prescribe birth control for students who had no underlying medical condition. They had to turn to an additional provider to support their students. I support contraception and abortion access with no restrictions.

NN: What Congressional actions would you support to address the climate crisis in a meaningful way?

PC: Our climate is in crisis. The Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the planet. Sea levels are rising and wildlife and fisheries and individuals are in danger.

It will take many strategies to address this complex problem. After the recent Supreme Court decision to restrict the regulatory power of the Environmental Protection Agency, it seems obvious that their powers must now reside in more specific law. Congress also has the power to join with other nations to work together to address the climate crisis. This may include further restrictions on automobile emissions or other such regulations.

Positive steps include promoting and helping to fund more renewable energy projects. Alaska, especially, could be a laboratory for renewable energy sources, as we have access to tidal, solar, wind, hydro and thermal energies.

The Congress can also support investment in mass transportation so that individuals can rely less on automobiles. Providing pedestrian and bike paths may also help and encourage physical activity.

Of course, the federal government has a role to play in making communities more resilient in the face of the changing climate. We must be a source of help when disastrous weather destroys communities. Rebuilding should use methods that make housing better able to withstand weather traumas.

NN: What Congressional action would you support to protect voting rights and assure free and fair elections?

PC: I support passing the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to strengthen the oversight of the federal government on state elections. This act will provide a remedy to the recent Supreme Court decision to abandon the Voting Rights Act of 1965 provision that requires designation of preclearance for areas with historical discriminatory practices.

Further, Congressional action must protect voter access, including, but not limited to, sufficient poll locations for populations, absentee and early voting opportunities, and non-discriminatory voter identity practices.

NN: Do you believe the 2020 Presidential Election was “stolen”?

PC: The 2020 Presidential Election was fair. It was not stolen. President Biden was elected by both a popular vote majority and appropriate electoral college votes.