By Maya Dusenbery • @mayadusenbery • 12 years ago

GOP prevents women from testifying at birth control coverage hearing

Where my ladies at?

Definitely not at the House Committee hearing happening right now to discuss whether no-cost birth control coverage “trampled on freedom of religion?” (Hint: It doesn’t.) Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa rejected a request to include just one female witness, saying “the hearing is not about reproductive rights and contraception.” Democratic women on the committee made a final appeal at the hearing, asking Issa to let a college student testify.

Via ThinkProgress:

http://youtu.be/MK38kuMOuXY

Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Eleanor Holmes Norton walked out in protest. As we all should, metaphorically. This is democracy in action, ladies and gentlemen: Women actively barred from speaking about an issue that directly affects us, our health, and our lives.

If anyone has time to write up a transcript in the comments, I’d appreciate it!

St. Paul, MN

Maya Dusenbery is executive director in charge of editorial at Feministing. She is the author of the forthcoming book Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick (HarperOne, March 2018). She has been a fellow at Mother Jones magazine and a columnist at Pacific Standard magazine. Her work has appeared in publications like Cosmopolitan.com, TheAtlantic.com, Bitch Magazine, as well as the anthology The Feminist Utopia Project. Before become a full-time journalist, she worked at the National Institute for Reproductive Health. A Minnesota native, she received her B.A. from Carleton College in 2008. After living in Brooklyn, Oakland, and Atlanta, she is currently based in the Twin Cities.

Maya Dusenbery is an executive director of Feministing and author of the forthcoming book Doing Harm on sexism in medicine.

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