House Republicans organized a hearing this morning on the Obama administration's policy on access to contraception, and the first panel was made up exclusively of men -- each of whom opposes the White House position. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was not amused.
"Five men are testifying on women's health," Pelosi said, adding, "Where are the women? Imagine having a panel on women's health and they don't have any women on the panel.
"Duh? What is it that men don't understand about women's health and how central the issue of family planning is to that? Not just if you're having families but if you need those kinds of prescription drugs for your general health, which was the testimony they would have heard this morning if they had allowed a woman on the panel. I think the fact that they did not allow a woman on the panel is symbolic of the whole debate as to who is making these decisions about women's health and who should be covered."
When Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) warned this week of a Republican "male-a-garchy," he clearly had a point.
Also note, the witness Democrats asked to participate, before being rejected by House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), was law student Sandra Fluke. She was excluded from the hearing, but the testimony Fluke was prepared to deliver has been posted online.
Leave a Comment:
i think they should put men on the right back up in their mommies wombs.
Or at least look around inside for the missing brain.
Here's a question my smarty-pants husband asked me to ask you all: if this is truly about religious freedom (ie the RC Church doesn't want to pay for birth control as it is against their teachings re: procreation) then WHY is this issue not being raised by the Council of Canadian Bishops? Or the Council of Bishops in Australia? The UK? Germany?
If religious freedom IS the point ... the Catholic church is an international organization, why is this only an issue in the USA?
Because this is nothing but a red herring to distract everyone from the real issues of the country, and the questions the public have about what their solutions are to solve the problems..They don't have any plans or solutions.
The Bishops Conference saw an opening to influence politics in the US. It backfired--big time. This controversy ended up helping Obama and the Dems.
Precisely his/my point. Would love to get an answer from those who are defending the bishops and asserting that this isn't about contraception or about attacking women but about religious freedom.
Because American politicians are using these stupid old Bishops and religion as a tool to feather their Republican nests. Once they move on to some other stupid topic they will dump the CC on its ass and manipulate some other dumb ass group. It's called EXPLOITATION! Not that the CC didn't bring this crap on itself tho.
It is being raised. Here's a story from Canada:
Source:http://www.catholicregister.org/news/international/item/13868-us-contraception-debate-unlikely-in-canada
And here's a link to a story from the BBC including the following quote:
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8180739.stm
So, the church seems to be consistent in their stance. The assumption that this is merely an American issue is incorrect.
Well, that just proves that the CC is consistently regressed all over the globe.
RobDon, you left out the best part of the article:
"But as hospitals specialize and amalgamate, Catholic institutions might end up sending someone to another institution for care the Catholic facility does not provide, he said.
While American bishops oppose the imposition of mandates to provide insurance for contraception, Canada’s single-payer medicare system already makes taxpayers — Catholic and non-Catholic alike — fund abortion on demand, even if Catholic hospitals are not forced to perform them.
Canadian taxpayers do not pay for all contraception, though family physician Dr. Barbara Powell said birth control pills and other contraceptive services are provided to women on social assistance, and are available free through many municipal clinics. Many doctors hand out free samples.
“Any resourceful woman in Ontario can obtain free contraception,” she said.
Roche said that when Canada began to create its medicare system in the 1940s, health care was not nearly as complex. Then the ethical guidelines for Catholic hospitals fit into a six-page booklet. Now they are 1,000 pages, he said.
What framed the ultimate embrace of medicare by the Catholic health care institutions was the “notion of ensuring every Canadian would have access to medical care and hospital services.”
“Abortion was not legal,” he said. “That too changed as the decades went on.”
I will grant you that I was mistaken about the issue not being raised but boy what a difference in attitude. In other countries, Canada in particular, women's health is NOT a political chew-toy. The Catholic church negotiated it's way to not being forced to give up their religious practices but women still get what they need. No conservative politician would even DREAM of suggesting the no one should have to provide a medical service they were personally opposed to. Not if they wanted to keep their job anyway.
Plus, Revenue Canada (the tax folk) do pay attention and there have been churches in Canada that have lost their tax-exempt status for getting too political or for breaking Canadian laws against discrimination or hate speech. Yes, we have laws against hate speech.
Bravo to you !!!!!
Nice to see someone put a cherry picker of facts like RobDon in their place.
Republicans like them and Liz Cheney are always using Canada in their arguments and constantly misstate what Canada's healthcare and laws truly state.
What does it say about their points of view when they have to resort to distorting facts and outright lying to try and make their points have any merit at all?
The Democrats should hold a hearing with a panel of all women to discuss since women shouldn't have birth control, that men should be forced to have vasectomies.
For newborn males they could perform the circumscions and vasectomy at the same time.
Watch the old boys squeeze their knees together and wince. LOL
What, precisely, do they consider artificially inseminating women with which necessitates taking away their reproductive freedoms? Think carefully. Women sans reproductive liberty = breeding ground for ______? Sorry, but this ain't typical politics. This is nefarious sh*t. We know our government has classified alien material as Above Top Secret yet ridicules and defames those who research and discuss it in a logical, scholarly manner.
wat
Funny how only women's form of birth control is under attack of not being insured even thou it is not only used for birth control. Hormonal birth control protects against cancer in the ovaries and uterus and it protects from cysts forming in the breasts and ovaries. But vasectomies are normally covered by insurance and it is used to sterilize men. If a woman decides that she wants to have children, she can just stop taking the birth control. But if a man has a vasectomy and decides to get it reversed, it costs an un-godly amount of money and is normally very hard to get done.
I just want to comment on the contraception funding issue and the hearing today
regarding the same.
First, I cannot believe we are actually talking about this in
2012. Second, if the Catholic church is so adamantly opposed to people having
sex when it is not to procreate, then why no outrage over men having vasectomies
and the church paying for that with the insurance? Lastly, how can Rep. Issa
have a hearing about contraception that includes NO women?
You would think
this was 1912 rather than 2012.
On a related issue: this morning (2/16/12) on "The View", Joy Behar passionately, powerfully condemned the mandatory vaginal sonogram law just passed in Virginia. Healthy applause from the audience. You go, girl!
What really infuriates me about the Obama Administrations Healthcare program is how little attention is being paid the fact that it requires Jehovah's Witness employers to pay for blood transfusion coverage, and Muslim employers to cover pig heart valves, and Hindu employers to cover bovine heart valve, and christian scientist emp...loyers to cover medical treatment, and scientologist employers to cover psychiatric care, and pentacostal employers to cover non-faith healing coverage, and republican employers to cover poor people, and atheist employers to cover people who really should have been protected from disease by their lousy God, and anorexic employers to cover fat people who would be healthier if they just stopped eating so much, and fat employees to cover sports injuries which people wouldn't get if they spent more time at their desks and less time at the stupid gym...
Republican party is going the way of the Taliban. Hence, women cannot be allowed to decide what is good for their own health?
A good way for the Democratic Party to win the next election!
Republican party is going the way of the Taliban. Only men can decide what is good for women's health!!!
Women, get to the polling booth and vote the Democratic party into Power!
The Republican party is handing out free BURKAS to every woman who votes for a Republican.
+ free GENITAL MUTILATION, just like in parts of Africa.
*Hmm, wouldn't be surprised if that's next on their agenda, along with killing the gays.
So we are now fighting to justify contraception, child labor laws and teaching evolution in public schools. Next up will be fighting for the right to purchase alcoholic beverages and for women to vote.
I've been a Republican for over 50 years and believe me I don't understand the antiquated thinking of some members of the party. Yes, contraception is necessary and so also is a woman's right to make a choice regarding abortion. You might ask why then aren't you a Democrat and I would answer that by saying I'm not a big believer in a lot of the social agenda of that party.
I have been a Republican for over 50 years and I can't understand the antiquated thinking of some members of the party regarding contraception and abortion. I firmly believe contraception is necessary and the matter of abortion should be a matter of choice.
You may say, well then why aren't you a Democrat and I would answer that I don't agree with them on a vast number of welfare issues. i.e share the wealth programs and granting any kind of assistance to illegals.