Why is it so important for you to honor Shepard’s memory in this way?

"Shepard will always be important to me. I will always love him. And these small things I am trying to do to create big change, we’re doing it not only to honor their lives, but to honor all of the other lives that [we] have lost, before and after. To make sure that it stops happening, or at the very least, that it happens less."

You’re expecting a baby girl. What’s your biggest hope for your daughter and for your family going forward?

"I say this a lot, maybe too much. But I do not want to look into my daughter’s eyes and say, I could have done something, but I chose not to. I could have tried to change paid family leave for you, but I chose not to. I decided it was too hard. I don’t want us to look in our kids’ eyes and think, We could have done something and chose not to. When I think of her, I think, I am doing this for her, so she doesn’t have to go through what I have gone through."

What’s your call to action for other women, for other moms, to get directly involved and help?

"Everyone can call their national and state representatives and send them an email and say, ‘I want this done and I wanted it done yesterday.’ We are the only industrialized nation that doesn’t offer any kind of paid leave. Let’s figure out how we can catch up — even if they’re small steps, let’s start taking them. Figure out how to start taking them, and email me back with your ideas. We have to start holding people accountable.

"It’s very hard, sometimes, get involved in the political realm, because a lot of us feel so jaded, we feel like our voice doesn’t matter, we feel like our vote doesn’t count. We feel like those emails get deleted at the end of the week. But if we sit and do nothing, that’s the worst. We will find a way. I don’t think any of the efforts Amber or I have made over the last year are wasted…this is a family issue. Moms and dads should stand together and say, ‘Our babies deserve more. Our children deserve better. Let’s fix this.'"

Refinery29 covered the petition delivery live. Watch the full video, below: