Women still can’t speak on women’s health
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Shhh. Women please be quiet. Yes, we know that you would like to talk about your health but here’s the point that the Republicans would like to make. They don’t care what you have to say. Republican simply don’t care about your fancy “experts.” They don’t care about experts that you have in healthcare or scholarly ethicists or even theologians. All that mumbo-jumbo just gets in the way of their authoritarian theology. They don’t want to hear that.
From MaddowBlog:
Last week, the House Oversight Committee, led by Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), held a one-sided hearing on contraception access, featuring an opening panel of five conservative men — and no one else. Democrats on the committee had invited a witness, Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke, but Issa refused to allow her to participate.
House Dems aren’t taking “no” for an answer.
In case it wasn’t already apparent how politicized women’s health has become on Capitol Hill, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Tuesday that a Democratic panel will meet this week to hear testimony from just one witness: Sandra Fluke, the woman who House Republicans refused to let testify at their hearing on the birth control rule last week.
Pelosi announced that the House Democratic Steering & Policy Committee will meet Thursday at 10 a.m. to discuss women’s health. A senior Democratic aide said it is common practice for party leaders to use that committee to cast a spotlight on overtly political matters.
“We’ve used the Steering and Policy Committee as a place to highlight what the Republicans ARE NOT doing with their hearings,” the aide said in an email.
There was, however, an unexpected twist yesterday afternoon. The Democratic Steering & Policy Committee’s hearing will be held in the House Recording Studio, in order to help broadcast the event, except in this case, it won’t be seen by anyone outside the room. According to House Dems, the Republican-controlled Committee on House Administration hasrefused to allow the hearing to be televised.