Women for Ford
A Governing Platform from La Shawn Ford
Women in the 7th Congressional District deserve leadership that is serious, steady, and accountable.
I am running for Congress because I believe government must protect women, respect their choices, and deliver real results, not rhetoric.
I come to this work as a man raised by a strong mother and as a father raising a strong daughter. I have been shaped by two generations of women who faced different challenges but shared the same need for dignity, opportunity, and protection. That experience has given me one clear responsibility, to show up, protect women’s rights, and govern with care, urgency, and integrity.
My record shows how I lead. I have not waited for permission to stand with women. I have passed laws, delivered services, and defended women when it mattered. In Congress, I will do the same, on a larger scale.
What Women Are Facing Right Now
Women are being asked to do more while federal protections are being stripped away.
Healthcare costs are rising. Reproductive freedom is under attack. Childcare is unaffordable. Student debt is holding women back. Wages are not keeping up with the cost of living. Maternal health gaps, especially for Black women, remain deadly. Violence against women persists, and retirement security is increasingly fragile.
At the same time, cuts to basic family supports hit women first. When programs like SNAP are reduced, women are often the ones stretching food budgets, planning meals, and making impossible choices to keep families fed. Nutrition programs are not just about food access, they are about stability, health, and dignity. When families are supported, crises are prevented.
Under a Trump-driven agenda, women have seen rights rolled back, enforcement weakened, and care pushed out of reach. I reject that direction. Government should protect women, not police them.
Healthcare and Reproductive Freedom
I Trust Women to Make Decisions for Themselves
In my role as a state Representative, I passed laws expanding access to health coverage and preventive care, including insurance reforms and protections for essential screenings. I will bring that same commitment to protecting women’s autonomy and access to Congress.
In Congress, I will:
- Codify the right to reproductive healthcare, including abortion and contraception
- Protect patient privacy and medical decision making
- Defend healthcare providers from political interference
- Expand affordable coverage and access to local care
I have protected healthcare access before. I will protect it again, this time at the federal level.
Maternal Health and Black Maternal Outcomes
This Is About Life and Accountability
No mother should be lost to a preventable failure.
I have fought to expand healthcare access and close gaps in maternal outcomes through community-focused public health legislation. Improving maternal health also means strengthening the care teams women trust throughout pregnancy, birth, and postpartum recovery.
Midwives and doulas play a critical role in supporting healthy pregnancies and safe births, particularly in Black communities where outcomes have too often been overlooked. Community-based models of care work. When they are supported, women and babies do better. When they are dismantled, women pay the price.
In Congress, I will fight to:
- Expand postpartum care and follow-up services
- Invest in community-based maternal health providers
- Require transparency and accountability in hospital maternal outcomes
- Close racial gaps in maternal care and treatment
- Expand federal training, certification, and support for midwives and doulas
Maternal health is not optional. It is a moral obligation.
Economic Security and Equal Pay
Fair Work Deserves Fair Pay
My record includes fighting for workers, wage protections, and economic fairness for women and families. In the Illinois legislature, I helped pass laws raising wage floors, protecting worker rights, and expanding anti-discrimination protections that benefit women in the workforce.
In Congress, I will:
- Enforce equal pay laws with real consequences
- Expand paid family and medical leave
- Protect fair scheduling practices and workplace accommodations
- Support working women and responsible small businesses together
Economic independence is foundational to stability and opportunity.
Childcare and Family Support
Families Cannot Do This Alone
I have supported policies that strengthen working families and recognize caregiving as essential work.
In Congress, I will:
- Lower childcare costs through sustained federal investment
- Increase wages for childcare workers
- Expand access to high-quality early childhood education
- Support parents balancing work, school, and caregiving
Childcare is essential infrastructure, not a side issue.
LEARN MORE ABOUT MY RECORD ON EARLY EDUCATION
Education and Student Opportunity
From a Former Teacher
Before serving in the legislature, I was a teacher. I understand what education looks like in real classrooms because I lived it. I saw how education opens doors and how debt, discrimination, and lack of support can close them just as quickly, especially for women.
Throughout my career, I have fought for education access and affordability because opportunity should not come with a lifetime of debt.
In Congress, I will:
- Reduce student loan burdens that delay economic stability for women
- Expand Pell Grants and workforce training that lead to real careers
- Protect women from discrimination in education and training programs
- Support women returning to school later in life, including mothers and caregivers
Education should create opportunity, not long-term hardship.
Safety and Freedom from Violence
Protection Must Be Real
I have supported survivor protections and community safety efforts with action, not just statements.
In Congress, I will:
- Fully fund survivor services and shelters
- Strengthen enforcement of violence prevention laws
- Protect survivors in housing, healthcare, and the workplace
- Support trauma-informed recovery and justice
Safety is a right, and government must uphold it.
Retirement Security and Aging with Dignity
Security Should Not Disappear with Age
Protecting seniors has been a core part of my public service. I have worked to defend benefits, lower healthcare costs, and support caregivers and older women living alone.
In Congress, I will:
- Protect and strengthen Social Security against cuts or privatization
- Lower prescription drug and healthcare costs for seniors
- Defend pensions and retirement savings workers earned
- Support caregivers and aging women who need stable, affordable care
Women should not face poverty simply because they lived longer, earned less, or spent years caring for others.
Why Women for Ford
Because I have already shown up
I am not asking women to take my word for it. I am asking them to look at my record.
I have passed laws that improved lives.
I have delivered services when families needed help.
I have stood with women when their rights were under attack.
I have fought for women in Illinois.
I will fight for women in Washington.
I will not back down.
Women for Ford is about respect, action, and results, a platform mothers can trust and daughters can believe in.
Women of the 7th Congressional District:
If you want real protections, real results, and leadership that has delivered before and will deliver again, I ask for your vote in the Democratic primary.
Early voting starts February 5, 2026.
Primary Election Day is March 17, 2026.
Early voting begins February 5, 2026.
Primary Election Day is March 17, 2026.
Vote early or vote on Election Day.
Make your voice count.
I would be honored to earn your vote.
