Where is our voice?

By Alyssa Franke on 02/29/2012 @ 11:15 AM

Tags: Why Women

What strikes me most about the debates about women's health care is how painfully hard Republicans are trying to not mention any of the women who will be affected by their ideological crusades. Because arguing against an idea is easy. But as soon as you have to argue against an individual, it becomes much more difficult. Republicans will have to look a woman in the eye and tell her that she doesn't deserve the health care she needs. Put a woman's face on the contraception debate, and then you remind everyone that this could be your mother, your daughter, your sister, your wife, or even you.

Congressman Issa's all-male panel discussing birth control has now become infamous, as was his silencing of Sandra Fluke, the woman who bravely tried to make her voice heard to tell why women needed birth control. Others have already lampooned him and his parody of a birth-control hearing, but the larger issue remains. Women are consistently being ignored in the birth control debate. And we stand to lose so much when our voices aren't heard. Our knowledge and experience over what exactly birth control is, how it works, and how it does so much more to protect our health and wellbeing is lost. Instead of trying to understand the practical implications of their birth control policies, Republicans are trying to drown us out with extreme rhetoric. They are trying to turn it into an ideological battle when, ideologically, most Americans don't have a problem with birth control at all!

This week, there will be numerous committee hearings about birth control and family planning services. Thankfully, we've got some amazing women on our side who will be advocating for the women's perspective, including Representatives Shelley Berkley, Zoe Lofgren, Sheila Jackson Lee, Maxine Waters, Judy Chu, Linda Sanchez, Anna Eshoo, Diana DeGette, Lois Capps, Jan Schakowsky, Tammy Baldwin, Doris Matsui, and Kathy Castor. As a woman who needs birth control for health reasons, I hope these women can bring some sanity back to the birth control debate, and I hope more women will be elected this November to strengthen the woman's perspective in Congress. Republicans can keep trying to ignore women, but hopefully they won't be able to for much longer.

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A seat at the table

By Alison McQuade on 02/24/2012 @ 05:45 PM

Tags: Why Women

One week after Georgetown Law student, Sandra Fluke, was silenced and denied a seat at the table during Congressman Issa’s now infamous Man Panel hearing on birth control, Fluke was finally allowed to speak.

Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, along with Eleanor Holmes Norton, Elijah Cummings and Carolyn Maloney, convened a second panel to discuss birth control and women’s health care calling only Sandra Fluke to testify. I attended the hearing and was pleased to find that it was standing-room only and filled with so many women, eager to hear a woman speak on behalf of them and their health care needs.

Fluke shared a number of stories of friends, fellow students and acquaintances whose lives have been negatively affected by not having access to birth control that is covered by their insurance. Many women suffered severe and life-long health complications, others felt "embarrassed and powerless" by not being able to afford birth control. She even recounted the story of a woman who had been raped and didn’t see a doctor because "she didn’t think insurance was going to cover…something that was related to women’s health."

The health risks alone were scary enough, but the added stigma- created by insurance companies and employers who rank women’s health care as a second-rate priority by not covering all of women’s health needs – was the last straw. Fluke stated:

We did not expect that women would be told in the national media that if we wanted comprehensive insurance that met our needs, not just those of men, we should have gone to school elsewhere, even if that meant a less prestigious university. We refuse to pick between a quality education and our health, and we resent that, in the 21st century, anyone thinks it’s acceptable to ask us to make this choice simply because we are women.

In total, Fluke spent about an hour giving her statement and answering questions from the panel. “I’m an American woman who uses contraception…That makes me more than qualified to talk to my elected officials about my health care needs.” A woman. Talking about women’s health care. What a concept. In closing Pelosi thanked Fluke for speaking on behalf of women, “You not only have the Congress listening to you, but the country listening to you, and that is a powerful thing.”

EMILY’s List Executive Director Amy Dacey commented on the event, “It was an honor to be in the room with Sandra Fluke as she testified yesterday. She represented millions of women who are concerned about their own health. She should never have been silenced in Congressman Issa’s hearing.” Fluke never should have been silenced and neither should any other woman. We’re going to keep fighting the good fight and continuing to elect more Democratic pro-choice women to office to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

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Achievements in Awful . . . and tables

By Ryan Sims on 02/23/2012 @ 12:19 PM

Tags: Why Women

So here we are -- again -- on the heels of another Republican Presidential debate. Another exhausting, exasperating Republican Presidential debate. And again, we watched, to present the GOP contenders with our Achievement in Awful Awards -- and again, there was no shortage of statements fully qualifying as awful.

But before we get to the actual passing out of the awards, I wanted to mention just a little something about tables, who sits at them, and what they say while they're there. Last night, I couldn't help but fixate on the fact that a table of all men was pontificating about women's health. That visual was just eerily similar to another very recent one -- you know, that one where a table of all men was pontificating about women's health. Only last night, it was a Presidential debate and not a Congressional hearing. Oh, and this time, it was over ninety minutes before they allowed a woman to ask a question.

Nevertheless, we were looking at a slate of men, ostensible leaders of some sort, again declaring to know what's best for women. 'Awful' is a pretty good word for it.

Of course, that's not close to everything absurd that emerged from the mouths of these guys last night. So without further ado, a taste of our most recent Achievement in Awful Awards (click through for the full slate of fun).

Most insulting rhetoric

Mitt Romney: "This isn't an argument about contraceptives" - Romney joins other GOP men in dismissing discussion of women's health

Most hypocritical

Ron Paul: "You don't have women's rights or men's rights" - Paul ignoring that men's reproductive freedom isn't being restricted by Republicans

This is the last debate for a while. I can't say I'm disappointed. I've had my fill of male tables.

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By Alison McQuade on 02/22/2012 @ 11:50 AM

Tags: Why Women

Last week, Rep. Joe Walsh said that the ongoing birth control debate is “not about women.”

Well, let me check my reproductive organs, but I think it is.

Now, Michele Bachmann says that Republicans aren’t anti-women, but rather, Obama’s health care policies are.

Sure, the Republican Party isn’t anti-woman, unless those women want access to basic health care or want to testify to Congress about their own health and bodies.

Over the weekend, Saturday Night Live took a swipe at the birth control Man Panel during one of my favorite Weekend Update segments, REALLY!?! With Seth and Amy. Responding to Foster Friess’s suggestion that women’s go-to method of birth control should be putting aspirin between their knees, Seth Meyers said, “Do you really want to start a discussion of health care with ‘When I was young…’ When you were young, people died of polio.” Similarly, Jon Stewart put together his own Man Panel.

This is all good fodder for the comedians and the late night shows, and I’ll be the first to laugh about it and post it all on Facebook. But the important thing to remember is that even though we laugh at the absurdity, this is true. Real people, real candidates, real elected officials (who make our laws) feel this way. And that’s not funny.

Yesterday, we went live on TV with an ad to rally women together to say that it’s not ok when five men testify to Congress on what’s “best” for women. 2012 is a huge opportunity for us to elect more pro-choice Democratic women to office to make sure this doesn’t happen again. If you haven’t seen our ad, please take 30 seconds to watch it and share it with your friends.

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New TV Ad: “Where are the women?”

By Alison McQuade on 02/19/2012 @ 01:40 AM

Tags: Why Women

Last week, we watched in shock (and disgust) as a panel of only men testified in front of a Congressional committee hearing and debated access to birth control, insisting that they knew what's best for women.

We’ve had enough. The radical, right-wing anti-women conservatives in Washington are using their power to set women back decades, and we have to stop it.

EMILY’s List is launching a cable TV and internet advertising campaign posing the question "Where are the women?" to reach women across the country and bring them into our community.

2012 is our chance to change Washington - with its broken priorities and disdain for women - by electing prochoice Democratic women who will build a progressive America.

Watch our our new ad below and make a contribution to EMILY’s List so that we can keep it on the air and make sure that men and women across the country know what’s at stake.

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