We Object: Republicans and Women's Health
For years, Republicans have attacked women's health care policy every chance they have gotten. They’ve voted against protecting domestic violence victims from being denied health insurance. They’ve voted to allow insurance companies to deny us coverage for life-saving mammograms. They’ve voted to deny our children basic health coverage. They’ve voted against giving women needed time off after having a child. If you've been in Washington, D.C. long enough, you start to expect this kind of behavior from a party whose caucus is 90% male.
In my years in the labor movement, I’ve seen firsthand how women get silenced or sidelined in the workplace. And I’m certainly not unfamiliar with the way male egos can occasionally get in the way of good policy. I’ve watched women fight twice as hard as men to make their voices heard in negotiations and I’ve stood by my sisters as they held out for contract provisions that truly support a family.
Despite years of witnessing what women put up with in the workplace, who knew a few Republican Congressmen could still surprise me.
As the House of Representatives began debate on their historic health insurance reform bill, Democratic women elected to represent districts all over this nation came to the floor of the Chamber to speak out against insurance companies’ continued discrimination against women. And as these elected representatives such as Rep. Lois Capps, RN (D-CA) used their voices to raise an issue that affects more than 50% of the US population, six Republicans — led by Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) — repeatedly talked over them, screamed, and shouted screeds like “I object, I object, I object, I object, I object.”
Based on their record, maybe there was no reason to be surprised. But as the Chamber weighed the passage of real health insurance reform that would stop insurance companies from charging women more and denying us coverage because of “pre-existing conditions” such as rape, C-Sections, or domestic violence, it’s hard to forget the image of Republican men screaming, “I OBJECT!”
It was a defining moment, followed by 11 hours of more of the same, including the Stupak-Pitts amendment forcing Members to either kill reform or strip women of our reproductive rights. And while much of the focus has been on the Democrats who voted for the amendment - and for good reason - it must be remembered that every single Republican member of the U.S. House voted to curtail women’s freedom, except for the one guy who voted “present.”
No one here is suggesting that all Republicans are on a single-minded campaign to destroy women’s health. However,
- when one Party’s only objective with health insurance reform is to use it to score political points at the expense of the millions of people across this country who are going bankrupt, being denied care, and being crushed by out of control premiums,
- when one Party’s Boehner-drafted healthcare bill includes no mention of women (outside of language restricting reproductive health services),
- when one Party’s caucus can’t stop screaming at women long enough to hear what we have to say,
one has to wonder if that’s a Party with room for us.
Join SEIU's campaign to raise awareness on women's health care issues. Take your ticket for gender equality, here: http://www.seiu.org/ticket
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Relax people, the chorus of cuisinarts and hoovers will be heard in clinics around the country.
The amendment will probably be struck down by the Supreme Court if it actually passes and gets used to block a woman from having an abortion.
What Supreme Court are you talking about? Can't be the Roberts court you're talking about.
There are an increasing number of democrats working to limit the rights of women as evidenced by the recent vote on healthcare. We must face the regettable fact that America is more and more embracing a reactionary form of christianity which is now thriving in both parties.
I think that it may be that Dems who voted for this piece of iniquity figured that job one was to get health reform passed, and the ammendment can be reversed later. I hope so.
in all of the discussions about the "evil Republicans " who are against women"s health ( yet not one iota of the legalized abortions have been taken away).....
There isn't any liberal woman's outrage against the Democrats because the woman's groups are part of the Democratic machine, and will not speak against their own
"There isn't any liberal woman's outrage"
Are you a male from the other side of the fence?
What makes you think you are qualified to represent us? We ARE outraged.
Please try to keep up.
There's plenty of outrage -- look around at the articles..
Where the hell have you been? I have written DOZENS of comments about the rage I am feeling against the Democrats, as well!
I have seen many women upset - do you purposely avoid us so you can make a comment like that?
Thank you for your thoughtful post. I am very outraged by mood to throw women under the bus to pass healthcare reform. How can a program do good when it has such dubious beginnings? It represents a backwards step for women and women should not be fooled with the ole "it can be fixed later" line. Later could be a generation away.
If you believe Mike Elks asinine post its liberal elites who don't care about these woman's rights. Yet it's the republicans who time and time again destroy freedom by any means.
Not only am I astonished by male Republican members of Congress and their outrageous behavior towards women and women's issues, I am even more astonished at women like Michele Bachmann and Marsha Blackburn who do their bidding.
Good point.
Agreed.
I would say to you that as a woman, I have been dismayed and enraged by so-called liberal men throwing us women under the healthcare bus.
We have been asked to give up our healthcare so the men and children can have theirs.
As far as I am concerned, it is only gay men who seem to care a whit for women's rights. I care about their rights, too, incidentally!
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