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U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen, the Colorado Democrat leading the charge in the House of Representatives to allow new parents to vote by proxy, on Monday announced the birth of her second son.

"We are overjoyed to welcome our healthy baby boy, Sam, to our family," Pettersen posted to social media, alongside photos of the newborn and his mother and father, Ian Silverii, and older brother Davis.

"Davis couldn’t be more excited to be his big brother," she said, adding, "We are grateful for the outpouring of love and support."

Serving her second term representing the Jefferson County-based 7th Congressional District, Pettersen returned from Washington, D.C., to the family's Lakewood home just over two weeks earlier and planned to remain there on doctor's orders until her baby was born, knowing she would be unable to cast votes on legislation under House rules.

Pettersen appears to be only the 14th member of Congress to give birth while in office.

Along with a bipartisan group of young lawmakers, Pettersen is pushing a rules change in the chamber to permit lawmakers the ability to vote by proxy in order to care for newborns, but House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, has rejected their request.

Before she departed the Capitol, Pettersen and fellow lawmakers — six Democrats and six Republicans — introduced a resolution to authorize remote voting by proxy for parents of newborns, granting up to 12 weeks maternity or paternity leave.

“Our government works best when the life experiences of the American people are represented,” Pettersen said in a statement. “Enabling new parents to vote by proxy while they spend time recovering and taking care of their newborn baby is an important step in modernizing Congress and addressing one of the significant barriers young parents face to serving.”

Republican U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, a cosponsor of the resolution, gave birth last year and sponsored an earlier, similar measure.

“No parent should have to choose between caring for their child, or recovering from childbirth, and fulfilling their duties in Congress to represent their constituents,” Luna said in a statement, adding: "Congress needs to get with the times."

Just over five years earlier, when she was serving in the Colorado State Senate, Pettersen became only the second state lawmaker in memory to give birth during session, which led to the General Assembly changing its policies to to accommodate new parents.

A spokeswoman for Pettersen told Colorado Politics the lawmaker is unsure how long she'll be on maternity leave this time.

Johnson previously said he considers the move to be unconstitutional, even though he empathizes with female lawmakers "of birthing age."

"It’s a real quandary," Johnson told a reporter earlier this month. "But I'm afraid it doesn't fit with the language of the Constitution, and that's the inescapable truth that we have."

Johnson was among a group of House Republicans who sued to block the House from using proxy voting during the coronavirus pandemic, though courts ruled against the GOP's legal challenge.

Pettersen told Colorado Politics that Johnson's objections to proxy voting have routinely been dismissed by the courts.

“We are in this situation because of outdated policies and mindsets, not legislative minutia," she said. "It’s unacceptable that Republican leadership refuses to make the changes necessary to accommodate new parents and ensure their vote is counted."

Pettersen said supporters of the rules change plan to "keep fighting" and could pursue a parliamentary maneuver to force a floor vote on the resolution if Republican leadership won't schedule a vote.

Such a move, known as a discharge petition, would require 218 signatures — a majority of the chamber's 435 members — asking for the full House to hold a vote.

In an interview with Glamour magazine published over the weekend, Pettersen said she plans to press ahead, inspired by her sons.

"My son, Davis, who just turned five, reminds me every day what’s at stake in the urgency of this moment," Pettersen told the magazine. "Now, I’m going to have another son who’s going to continue to do the same. I’m fighting for their future and also fighting to make sure that we’re modernizing the places of power where we need regular people represented, people who understand the current struggles that families are facing."