Sarah McBride Calls for National Paid Family and Medical Leave

On Thursday, Rep. Sarah McBride of Delaware spoke at an event organized by Paid Leave for All and the National Partnership for Women & Families, urging Democrats to make paid family and medical leave a centerpiece of their 2027 agenda. She argued that in the wealthiest nation, access to care should not be a matter of luck but a legal right.

The Advocate

McBride’s push stems from caring for her husband, Andy Cray, an LGBTQ + health-policy expert who died of oral cancer at 28 after a 2014 diagnosis. Health insurance and flexible jobs let Cray seek treatment while McBride served as his full-time caregiver; they married on a D.C. rooftop officiated by Bishop Gene Robinson four days before his death.

The Advocate

The initiative includes Rep. Sarah McBride, chair of the New Democrat Coalition’s Care Economy Task Force; her late husband Andy Cray, whose experience shaped her view; Bishop Gene Robinson, who performed their wedding; and the advocacy groups Paid Leave for All and the National Partnership for Women & Families, co-hosts of the event.

The Advocate

Polls show broad bipartisan support for paid leave, yet Congress has not passed a universal program, leaving the United States among the few wealthy nations without guaranteed national paid-leave protections.

The Advocate

McBride said she has introduced legislation to modernize the Family and Medical Leave Act and warned that America operates with a “1950s care infrastructure” for a “2026 workforce.” She called paid leave a “necessary foundation for families and a bedrock of a modern economy” and a bipartisan benefit that should serve anyone starting a family, supporting a loved one, or caring for themselves.

The Advocate

• “We all understand that in the wealthiest, most developed nation on earth, that time and ability to get care should not be a matter of luck,” — Sarah McBride, U.S. Representative

The Advocate

• “We knew how lucky he was to have health insurance that would allow him to get care that would hopefully save his life and we both understood how lucky we were to have flexibility with our jobs that allowed him to focus on the full-time job of getting care and me to focus on the full-time job of being his caregiver, of supporting him through chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, of loving him,” — Sarah McBride

The Advocate

• “We have in America a 1950s care infrastructure for a 2026 workforce,” — Sarah McBride

The Advocate

• “And it’s a benefit that should be bipartisan,” — Sarah McBride

The Advocate

McBride argues that without a national paid-leave safety net, many Americans face instability when caring for ill relatives or children, and that paid leave is a cornerstone of a modern “care economy.”

The Advocate

McBride will keep chairing the Care Economy Task Force, advance her updated Family and Medical Leave Act bill, and push for a national paid-leave standard as part of the Democratic 2027 platform.

The Advocate