Sarah McBride, recalling her husband’s cancer battle, delivers emotional plea for paid family leave

For Congresswoman Sarah McBride, a Democrat who represents Delaware, the fight for paid family and medical leave has never been an abstract policy debate. It is bound up in grief, caregiving, economic survival, and the memory of marrying her husband on a Washington, D.C., rooftop just days before he died of cancer.Standing before advocates in Washington on Thursday, McBride delivered one of her most personal speeches since arriving in Congress, arguing that Democrats should make paid leave central to their governing agenda in 2027 and warning that millions of Americans are still forced to navigate illness, caregiving, and parenthood largely on their own.“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,” McBride said. “It should be the law of the land.”Related: As the first out trans person in Congress, Sarah McBride is ready to fight for usShe spoke at an event organized by Paid Leave for All and the National Partnership for Women & Families, where advocates and lawmakers highlighted the growing patchwork of state paid leave laws and renewed pressure for a national standard.McBride, the first out transgender member of Congress, has long framed economic policy through the lens of personal dignity and stability. But on Thursday, she anchored her argument in the story that has shaped much of her political life. She discussed the illness and death of her late husband, LGBTQ+ advocate Andy Cray.Cray was a prominent LGBTQ+ health policy expert who worked on Affordable Care Act implementation and transgender health issues during the Obama administration. He and McBride met while both were working in Democratic and LGBTQ+ advocacy circles.“When my husband Andy was diagnosed with cancer, from the first moments after he received that diagnosis, despite the fear, the terror, the anxiety, we both knew how lucky we were,” McBride said.Related: Sarah McBride’s introduces her f