We are Jewish women of Baltimore and Baltimore County. We are community leaders, employers, mothers, daughters, faith leaders, caretakers and workers. Because we care for our community and our families, we implore you to vote yes on the Healthy Working Families Act (SB230).

1 out of 4 women in Maryland currently do not have access to a single paid sick day. Many of them live paycheck to paycheck and face impossible choices between going into work sick and missing a day's pay. Sometimes that hardship can mean sending a sick child to school because you can't afford to stay home to care for them.

As women, the burden of caring for a sick loved one often falls to us. Without earned paid sick days, that burden becomes much heavier. The ability to earn paid sick days isn't just about taking a day off when you're sick; it's about recognizing the labor of caregivers, and of women, of whom so much is expected with so little in return. All we ask is the ability to care for ourselves and our families. But without earned paid sick days, for too many of us that becomes impossible.

You are in a position to stop this injustice. You have the power to vote yes for the Healthy Working Families Act, which would ensure that hundreds of thousands of women will have the dignity of being able to care for a child or a loved one when they're sick. Please do not let us down.

We urge you to vote yes on SB230. It's the right thing to do.