Dems decry all-male House panel on WH contraception rule
Panelists from the first half of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing: "Lines Crossed: Separation of Church and State. Has the Obama Administration Trampled on Freedom of Religion & Freedom of Conscience."
/ AP Photo/Carolyn KasterAs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee began a hearing Thursday morning on the Obama administration's rule mandating free contraceptive care for employees at religiously-affiliated institutions, New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney had a question for the panel: "Where are the women?" she asked.
"I look at this panel, and I don't one single individual representing the tens of millions of women across the country who want and need insurance coverage for basic preventive health care services, including family planning," Maloney said. "Where are the women?"
The hearing, entitled "Lines crossed: Separation of church and state. Has the Obama administration trampled on freedom of religion and freedom of conscience?" aimed to address the White House's ruling on contraception, and whether or not that rule infringes on religious liberty.
The first panel was comprised of five men: the Most Reverend William Lori, the Reverend Dr. Matthew Harrison, moral philosophy professor C. Benn Mitchell, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik, and ethics professor Craig Mitchell. The second panel did include two women.
The panelists, all of whom opposed the White House rule, largely framed the their objections in terms of religious freedom.
"Religious people determine what violates their consciences -- not the federal government," said Rev. Harrison. "Please get the federal government, Mr. Chairman, out of our consciences."
In his opening remarks, Rep. Elijah Cummings, the panel's top Democrat, argued committee chair Darrell Issa had "stacked" the panel with people who reflected only the Republican perspective, and accused the committee of perpetrating a "massive injustice" by failing to include women in the discussion.
Democrats on the committee charged that Issa "personally rejected" testimony from Sandra Fluke, a woman who had hoped to tell the story of her friend, who she says lost an ovary due to a lack of contraceptive coverage.
"Your staff told us you personally rejected Ms. Fluke's testimony, saying that, quote, 'the hearing is not about reproductive rights and contraception,'" Maloney said to Issa in her opening remarks during the hearing.
"Of course this hearing is about rights -- contraception and birth control," she said. "It's about the fact that women want to have access to basic health services family planning through their health insurance plan."
Democrats on the committee also lambasted Issa for failing to include on the panel any of the religious leaders and institutions who have expressed their approval for the Obama administration's decision.
Washington D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton walked out of the hearing due to its lack of balance, telling MSNBC it was "one-sided" and a "total romp." Maloney also left the meeting at one point to attend to another obligation, but later returned and continued to participate in the discussion.
Issa said during the hearing that he had not allowed Fluke to speak because she was not "appropriate and qualified." He said, too, that if Democrats had been more prompt about their witness requests he would have allowed them to present a religious representative supportive of the White House's decision.
A spokeswoman for the committee questioned the merit of Democrats' complaints, pointing out that the second half of the hearing included two women.
"The minority is either ill informed or arrogantly dismissive of women who don't share their views," Becca Watkins told Hotsheet in an e-mail. "Today's hearing does in fact include two women, Dr. Allison Garrett of Oklahoma Christian University and Dr. Laura Champion of Calvin College Health Services."
Nevertheless, a number of those who objected to the hearing seized on the lack of women on a panel ostensibly discussing contraception.
Maloney, along with Planned Parenthood, posted a picture of the all-male panel on Twitter.
"This is what @GOPoversight's idea of expert witnesses on #birthcontrol looks like," Maloney captioned the photo, using "wherearethewomen" as a hashtag for the Tweet.
Planned Parenthood released a statement accusing leading House Republicans as being "out of touch" on women's health.
"Where are the women? How can Congress hold a hearing about birth control and not let any women speak?" said Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards, in the statement.
Fluke, a student at Georgetown Law School, told CBS News that the lack of access to contraceptive care at the school was a major concern among women there, and that she had met several women who had personally been affected.
"I think it's touched every woman at Georgetown," she said. "It's something that we really struggle with in our daily lives."
Toward the end of the first panel, Rabbi Soloveichik denied that he and his fellow panelists had come to advance a partisan message.
"The notion that we're here to push a political agenda could not be more untrue," he said. "We all as Americans care about liberty and equality as the two great pillars of what America is all about."
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Anytime the government tells anyone they have to go against their religious beliefs, the government is infringing on the freedom of religion. THAT is the issue.
Smokey75, to you republicans, logic is an invisible man. One cannot help but question your ability to understand any rational thought. The insurance company will be more than happy to pay for contraceptives rather than pay for the much more costly amount of having a baby.
I don't see the republicans crying over the personhood law being forced through right now in Virginia. Where does the republicans get off thinking it is their right to mandate a woman to undergo an exam that requires ladies to be penetrated as part of the examination-I am not kidding guys. check it out for yourselves. This is what is going on right now in Virginia. Republicans want to take this country back centuries. Your freedom does not give you the right to infrenge on the rights of women and others in the country.
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And in Oklahoma! The red states are gonna go down like dominioes if this isn't stopped! The women in these states need to stand up for their rights!
Women have had plenty of access to contraception up to this date, they DO NOT need this too. This is ALL about the government getting their nose in religous institutions so they can later force them to do other things against their doctrine. It's all about destroying religion in this country. It is NOT a RIGHT to have free birth control. Sorry, folks that is NOT a "right". Government does not give rights. We have certain ones we are born with and that's it. The rest are NOT RIGHTS, so quit calling them such.
The only attack going on here is an attck on the uneducated, and shallow minded base of the republican party, that is incapable of putting together any rational thought for themselves. These were the same people that the republicans lied to about the dealth panel. Every rational, and common sense thinking human being said to themselves at the time-no one is going to believe this dealth panel nonsense. The result of the 2010 election tells us how stupid and easily deceived the republican base is.
I would argue that these incidents tell us more about the moral compass of the republican establishment than it says about the not too smart republican base-how far republican establishment are willing to go to manipulate these very vernorable sigment of the population(republican base) to vote against their own interest.
The republican party talk morality, yet they are the most morally bankrupt people in the country. The party that like to talk about the constitution, yet quick to take the right of others away. Women are not stool for you to put your feet on. This is 2012.
That is just plain ignorant.
Also -- when the Catholic Hospital hired the person, they accepted their work in return for a wage and benefit package... so you think the employer can just say "nevermind" and NOT be considered in breach of the contract?
This is about labor law, not religion. Period.
Prevention costs less.
The Insurance companies picked up the cost - not the Catholic church - and gladly because like I said, Prevention costs less.
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Man are you naive! You really think the insurance company is just going to eat that added cost and not pass it right back to the church?
All I can say is liberals are truly too stupid to survive in business. Kind of explains why only about 1 in 100 ceo's claim to be liberal and not one run their business with liberal mentality.
Same with the costs of a mamogram vs. late stage breast cancer treatment.
YOU and YOUR ILK have lost this edition of the GOP culture wars!
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Zann-Zel: "Prevention costs less."
The Insurance companies picked up the cost - not the Catholic church - and gladly because like I said, Prevention costs less.
Of course PREVENTION costs much less, but they will never understand!
Birth control pills don't kill people - they do Prevent People! But they don't kill them! Good Lord with that way of thinking you people will be trying to declare every EGG and every SPERM to be a 1/2 person - and they should at least be afforded 1/2 the rights of full persons! LOL! Careful though cuz once you go down that road every teenage boy would be a criminal!
It was about religious freedoms! God liberals are to stupid to debate with.
No women's rights are violated if a church doesn't pay for contraceptive!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Please explain to me how you think women's rights are violated if someone isn't forced to give them something for nothing?
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It isn't about cost's it isn't about abortions!
It is about having religious freedoms to say we don't believe in contraceptive so we should not be forced to pay for contraceptive.
Not a one of the church employers are saying a women can't work for them if they take contraceptive they are just saying they don't want to be forced to pay for it.
That is what freedoms are about!