WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) - Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are debating whether to let new parents vote by proxy on the House floor after giving birth, or having a spouse give birth.  Florida Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna had her baby boy in 2023.  "I cannot tell you how wild it was to si t in front of the Speaker of the House and be told, 'Well, no, you can't vote if you're recovering from childbirth.' It's not like I can send my baby return to sender here," Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) said.  She's now leading the effort with Colorado Democratic Congresswoman Brittany Petterson to let new moms and dads in Congress designate someone else to vote for them for 12 weeks after giving birth, or earlier if there are medical complications.  "You can absolutely make this job a pro-family environment but it's going to take changes like this," Luna said.  Luna says her measure has support from majority of members in the House, including about a dozen Republicans, enough to force a vote on the floor.  But House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is against the plan. He says it could be a slippery slope to letting others vote by proxy.  "What if their spouse is ill? What if their child contracts some sort of disease or cancer heaven forbid," Johnson said.  Johnson also argues it's unconstitutional.  "And I think that it opens a Pandora's box where ultimately, maybe no one is here and we're all voting remotely by AI or something. I don't know," Johnson said.  Luna pushed back on that, citing times Johnson voted by proxy when it was allowed during the pandemic.  "I think he's well intentioned. But I have records here showing that he voted by proxy in the 117th congress," Luna said.  Luna's measure also has the support of California Democratic Congressman Jimmy Gomez, who chairs the Dads Caucus.  "One of the things that I always felt is that Congress needs to be more representative of average Americans, and members who have children really can empathize and relate to people that have kids," Gomez said.  Gomez says he expects the House to vote on the issue in the coming weeks.  "I think the time has come," Gomez said. "It's going to make Congress more representative." ...read more read less