Senator Duckworth Returning From Maternity Leave
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Three months after giving birth to her second child, U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth is returning from maternity leave.
Duckworth, who is the first senator to give birth while in office, had been on leave since the birth of her second child, Maile Pearl Bowlsbey, on April 9.
The senator's office said is returning to work this week. She will be in Illinois this week, while Congress is on break for the July 4th holiday, and will return to Washington on Monday, when the Senate is back in session.
While on leave, Duckworth has been staying at her Washington home as much as possible, but she has been at the U.S. Capitol a handful of times since then to cast key votes, most notably on April 19, when she brought her new baby on the Senate floor for the first time.
The day before, the Senate had voted to change its rules to allow toddlers on the floor during votes. All children previously were banned from the Senate floor.
Duckworth had sought the rule change to allow her and any other senator to care for a child while on the Senate floor.
Before returning from maternity leave next week, Duckworth plans to participate in the July 4th parades in Evanston and the Hyde Park neighborhood on the South Side.
While on leave, Duckworth has expressed concerns about President Trump nominating a second Supreme Court justice, after the retirement of Anthony Kennedy. Duckworth told CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday that a conservative appointment to the court could reverse the historic abortion rights decision in Roe v. Wade, a case she said affected her own life.
"Roe v. Wade is important to me. I would not be able to have both of my beautiful children and my newborn daughter without IVF [in vitro fertilization], and the abolishment of Roe v. Wade could actually deny those of us who use IVF the ability to seek fertility treatments," she said.
If Roe v. Wade were overturned, it would not automatically ban in vitro fertilization nationwide, but states would be allowed to ban it.
