The video summarizes the testimony Chairman Issa rejected at today's hearing: Sandra Fluke, who would have been the Minority's witness and the only female voice on behalf of millions of women who seek safe and affordable coverage for preventive health care. She will be tonight's edition of "The Ed Show" at 8pET on MSNBC.
House Republicans today held a hearing today about whether the Obama administration was violating basic rights to religious freedom with its policies for requiring that employees of religion-affiliated institutions have access to birth control coverage.
But Democrats angrily cried foul when they were denied to the ability to present witnesses who might support the government stance or speak for the rights of women to reproductive health coverage.
Committee chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) has "refused to allow a minority witness to testify about the interests of women who want safe and affordable coverage for basic preventive healthcare, including contraception," said the top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland.
Indeed, five men but no women were allowed to testify (in the first round), including Sandra Fluke, a third-year student at Georgetown Law School (click here to read what Fluke was planning to say to the committee).
Sandra Fluke will be our exclusive guest on The Ed Show tonight at 8pET on MSNBC.
Who is Sandra Fluke?
She is past president of the school's Students for Reproductive Justice group. She has lobbied the administration at Georgetown (a private, Jesuit, research university) for three years to include birth control in its student health plans.
The Washington Post's Sarah Kliff caught up with Fluke outside the hearing room.
“My testimony would have been about women who have been affected by their policy, who have medical needs and have suffered dire consequences," Fluke said.
By the way, three Democrats walked out of the (House Oversight and Government Reform) hearing in protest when Fluke was not allowed to testify.
"I look at this panel, and I don't see one single individual representing the tens of millions of women across the country who want and need insurance coverage for basic preventative health care services, including family planning," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) before walking out of the hearing. "Where are the women?"
Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) also walked out in protest.
Here is what Luke was planning to say to Congress if she'd been allowed to testify:
Members of Congress, good morning, and thank you for allowing me to testify. My name is Sandra Fluke, and I’m a third year student at Georgetown Law, a Jesuit school. I’m also a past president of Georgetown Law Students for Reproductive Justice or LSRJ. I’d like to acknowledge my fellow LSRJ members and allies and thank them for being here today.
Georgetown LSRJ is here today because we’re so grateful that this regulation implements the nonpartisan, medical advice of the Institute of Medicine. I attend a Jesuit law school that does not provide contraception coverage in student health plans. Just as we students have faced financial, emotional, and medical burdens as a result, employees at religiously affiliated hospitals and universities across the country have suffered similar burdens. We are all grateful for the new regulation that will meet the critical health care needs of so many women. Simultaneously, the recently announced adjustment addresses any potential conflict with the religious identity of Catholic and Jesuit institutions.
As I have watched national media coverage of this debate, it has been heartbreaking to see women’s health treated as a political football. When I turn off the TV and look around my campus, I instead see the faces of the women affected, and I have heard more and more of their stories. You see, Georgetown does not cover contraceptives in its student insurance, although it does cover contraceptives for faculty and staff. On a daily basis, I hear from yet another woman who has suffered financial, emotional, and medical burdens because of this lack of contraceptive coverage. And so, I am here to share their voices and ask that you hear them.
Without insurance coverage, contraception can cost a woman over $3,000 during law school. For a lot of students who, like me, are on public interest scholarships, that’s practically an entire summer’s salary. Forty percent of female students at Georgetown Law report struggling financially as a result of this policy. One told us of how embarrassed and powerless she felt when she was standing at the pharmacy counter, learning for the first time that contraception wasn’t covered, and had to walk away because she couldn’t afford it. Students like her have no choice but to go without contraception. Just on Tuesday, a married female student told me she had to stop using contraception because she couldn’t afford it any longer.
You might respond that contraception is accessible in lots of other ways. Unfortunately, that’s not true. Women’s health clinics provide vital medical services, but as the Guttmacher Institute has documented, clinics are unable to meet the crushing demand for these services. Clinics are closing and women are being forced to go without. How can Congress consider allowing even more employers and institutions to refuse contraceptive coverage and then respond that the non-profit clinics should step up to take care of the resulting medical crisis, particularly when so many legislators are attempting to defund those very same clinics?
These denials of contraceptive coverage impact real people. In the worst cases, women who need this medication for other medical reasons suffer dire consequences. A friend of mine, for example, has polycystic ovarian syndrome and has to take prescription birth control to stop cysts from growing on her ovaries. Her prescription is technically covered by Georgetown insurance because it’s not intended to prevent pregnancy. At many schools, it wouldn’t be, and under Senator Blunt’s amendment, Senator Rubio’s bill, or Representative Fortenberry’s bill, there’s no requirement that an exception be made for such medical needs. When they do exist, these exceptions don’t accomplish their well-intended goals because when you let university administrators or other employers, rather than women and their doctors, dictate whose medical needs are good enough and whose aren’t, a woman’s health takes a back seat to a bureaucracy focused on policing her body.
In sixty-five percent of cases, our female students were interrogated by insurance representatives and university medical staff about why they need these prescriptions and whether they’re lying about their symptoms. For my friend, and 20% of women in her situation, she never got the insurance company to cover her prescription, despite verification of her illness from her doctor. Her claim was denied repeatedly on the assumption that she really wanted the birth control to prevent pregnancy. She’s gay, so clearly polycystic ovarian syndrome was a much more urgent concern than accidental pregnancy. After months of paying over $100 out of pocket, she just couldn’t afford her medication anymore and had to stop taking it. I learned about all of this when I walked out of a test and got a message from her that in the middle of her final exam period she’d been in the emergency room all night in excruciating pain. She wrote, “It was so painful, I woke up thinking I’d been shot.” Without her taking the birth control, a massive cyst the size of a tennis ball had grown on her ovary. She had to have surgery to remove her entire ovary. She’s not here this morning. She’s in a doctor’s office right now. Since last year’s surgery, she’s been experiencing night sweats, weight gain, and other symptoms of early menopause as a result of the removal of her ovary. She’s 32 years old. As she put it: “If my body is indeed in early menopause, no fertility specialist in the world will be able to help me have my own children. I will have no chance at giving my mother her desperately desired grandbabies, simply because the insurance policy that I paid for totally unsubsidized by my school wouldn’t cover my prescription for birth control when I needed it.” Now, in addition to facing the health complications that come with having menopause at an early age-- increased risk of cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, she may never be able to be a mom.
Perhaps you think my friend’s tragic story is rare. It’s not. One student told us doctors believe she has endometriosis, but it can’t be proven without surgery, so the insurance hasn’t been willing to cover her medication. Last week, a friend of mine told me that she also has polycystic ovarian syndrome. She’s struggling to pay for her medication and is terrified to not have access to it. Due to the barriers erected by Georgetown’s policy, she hasn’t been reimbursed for her medication since last August. I sincerely pray that we don’t have to wait until she loses an ovary or is diagnosed with cancer before her needs and the needs of all of these women are taken seriously.
This is the message that not requiring coverage of contraception sends. A woman’s reproductive healthcare isn’t a necessity, isn’t a priority. One student told us that she knew birth control wasn’t covered, and she assumed that’s how Georgetown’s insurance handled all of women’s sexual healthcare, so when she was raped, she didn’t go to the doctor even to be examined or tested for sexually transmitted infections because she thought insurance wasn’t going to cover something like that, something that was related to a woman’s reproductive health. As one student put it, “this policy communicates to female students that our school doesn’t understand our needs.” These are not feelings that male fellow students experience. And they’re not burdens that male students must shoulder.
In the media lately, conservative Catholic organizations have been asking: what did we expect when we enrolled at a Catholic school? We can only answer that we expected women to be treated equally, to not have our school create untenable burdens that impede our academic success. We expected that our schools would live up to the Jesuit creed of cura personalis, to care for the whole person, by meeting all of our medical needs. We expected that when we told our universities of the problems this policy created for students, they would help us. We expected that when 94% of students opposed the policy, the university would respect our choices regarding insurance students pay for completely unsubsidized by the university, especially when the university already provides contraceptive coverage to faculty and staff. 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.
Many of the students whose stories I’ve shared are Catholic women, so ours is not a war against the church. It is a struggle for access to the healthcare we need. The President of the Association of Jesuit Colleges has shared that Jesuit colleges and universities appreciate the modification to the rule announced last week. Religious concerns are addressed and women get the healthcare they need. That is something we can all agree on. Thank you.
Leave a Comment:
Yes Ed, the meeting, as stared, was about "violating basic rights to religious freedom" NOT about contraception!
They were there to discuss if it is overreach from the feds. and it IS.
Obviously, you got your script from Media Matters who in turn got it from the WhiteHouse. And all the other Obama boot-licking MSM "journalists" will put it up and run with it.
Just more lying BS from the left-wing media.
Keep those LIES flowing,Ed. Your are great at it!!
pftb = Here - Put This Cone Shaped Hat On And Go Sit In The Corner And Face The Wall !!!!!!
I got my "script" from watching this illegal joke. It was an "open" meeting. ONLY men could be there and it was about "contraception".
Maybe P will stay around untill xxx ooo arrives. He has been searching for a new toad to kick around on the vine. Hope he didn't go looking for greener pastures.
OH MY
Thankful, We can only hope, but he seems to P and run !!!!
OMG HELP ED Today on the andria mitchell show they where talking about rick santorum's taxes from last year and that he made $900,000 and they where trying to say this will help him with the blue collar workers in america because the rest of the GOP front runners made millions. OK MY POINT IS i know a lot of blue collar workers and none of the came even close to making 100k a year. what is going on can we get some truth on this station 900k is not blue collar its RICH
SERIOUSLY off topic but come on today on MSNBC they where reporting and talking as if Rick Santorum is a blue collar worker because he only made 900K last year compared to the other GOP front runners millions. I have worked around blue collar workers all my life and they would be lucky to make 100K. please get this right 900K is rich not blue collar
The GOP has stepped over the line, we need to organize and vote these bedroom intrusive bastards out of office!
The extreme right wing are perverts, all they can thinor what is in therk about are everyone elses genitals and sex lives. Really, come on now, I do not obsess over what happens in their bedrooms or what is in their pants. Perverts all of them!
All Right all hell is going to break loose and Ed thank you for letting her speak tonight for millions of women and yes men who want there wives, and girl friends to be treated with respect and dignity. Contraceptives never, never have been abortion pills. It is time to stop this war against us now ! This is a subject we must discuss and let the truth be told once and for all. Thank you Ed for all you do for the middle class and wemon. You know contraseptives is an equal oportunity pill, Rich, middle class, and poor. Every religion and nationality. Who ever invented it KUDOS !!!!
Yes, Ed the meeting was about "violating basic rights to religious freedom." It was NOT about contraception.
It was about whether the Feds. are OVERREACHING and YES, they ARE!
You get your lies from Media Matters which in turn they get straight from the White House.By tonight all the rest of the Obama boot-licking MSM will pick this story up and run with it. You and the rest of liars make me sick.
Keep your lying BS flowing, Ed. You're great at it. Guess that is why MSNBC hired you in the first place.
pftb = Mirror = Mirror = Do You Have A Mirror ???? Re-REG ^^^^^^^^^^^
LOL @ YOU
thanks you made the afternoon.
MD/MI. there are those who have a clue like us and those who don"t ! Contraceptives is all we have had in the news for what 2 weeks now? Did you watch the videos up top ? The GOP want a fight Damn they picked one and there ain"t know man who wants to get our dander up. I have Cherokee ancestors blood running through my veins and I can sure go on the war path !
Posting it once was not good enough huh Patrice?
Hey Pam = Hey Pilot = And All Other Descent People = Hope All Is Well This Day !!!!!
Does the Constitution Garantee Free Contraception? What about High Blood Pressure Meds? Can we get it free? Why is this Contraception thing given special preference??? Now that Obama has Americans turning against the rich....is the next move to turn women against man and vise versa? So much for Uniting the Country.....WOW.
Hey MD...I hope you are doing well my friend....
Hey Tap=You OK Today ? = { Why is this Contraception thing given special preference??? } = Because It Is Just {Another} Diversionary Tactic From The WRONG !!!!
MD/MI doing well here thanks.
"Contraceptives is all we have had in the news for what 2 weeks now?"
yes i have notice this and what happen two weeks ago well all the good news about the economy and the welfare of our country. and well they just out of BS Ammo and they have to know circle around again do the run, dodge and jump act.
LOL and its just going to get deeper and messier by them. its going to be fun to watch.
heck we have seen this in a few of our friends, here already.
Tap = {So much for Uniting the Country.....WOW.} == WOW You Got That Rite !!!!!???????? And Just WHAT Does This Subject Have To Do With Getting OUR Country Moving Forward ?????
MD/MI
Nothing is the short to the point answer!
nothing but a smoke screen as they the right/wrong side can not defend their lousy record of obstruction and sabotage.
get your anti circle chair set it for BS Spin and past the popcorn.
MD...I think this subject has a lot to do with moving this country backwards....more government meddling with Religion and Health Care...what a mistake.
The Repugs don't want the populace to realize the economy is doing better, so they had to invent this contraceptive BS to take everyone's eyes off the good that the Prez is doing.
Pilot = Buttered And Salted --- Or Not ????
Tap = Well Then = Just WHO Is Raising Such A Rukus About It = The WRONG - Thats WHO !!!!! And WHY ???? = To Divert From The TRUE Problems In OUR Country !!!!!!! And Of Course { The 1 Term THANG -And - To Distract From Their Voter Suppression CRAP } !!!!!!!!!
a little of both
more butter then salt.
i try not to use salt on anything as there seems to be enough in lots of produces already.
TAP...
It was the Republicans who decided to pick a fight over contraception! Obama solved the problem to the Catholic Church's satisfaction, but the Republicans, like Rep. Issa, can't stop going over it like a vulture on a carcass, trying to get some red meat to toss to their TEA-Party chicklets!
They don't want to listen to any non-right-wing women, they don't want to listen to lawyers who say that failure of employers to treat all women equally violates the law, they don't want to listen to Democrats, they don't want to listen to the people, they sure as HELL don't want to listen to Obama! They want to sit in their little circle-jerk, preaching to their radical base and preen themselves with pride that they got another issue to "use against Obama"!
This is going to backfire so hard against these fools in November; they are going to alienate every Independent woman in this country, who will - each and every one of them - make every effort to VOTE DEMOCRAT!
Tap = Come-On - You Have SUM Logical Thought Waves = Dont You ???????
Hey David....if the Catholic Church is satisfied...then why are they fighting the proposal?
http://www.christianpost.com/news/catholic-church-vows-to-fight-contraception-mandate-68703/
What, we started it? Hey, we were perfectly happy as women with the right to make a choice about birth control.......it took us thousand of years to be granted those rights......yet, it has been the repugs who want to mess with a good thing.
Who promotes the hate that has led to the death of a legal abortion doctor.
Who wants to destroy Roe-V-Wade?
Who is it that doesn't want gays to equal rights.?
Who is it that wants to take away birth control from women?
Who is it that thinks all women should be barefoot and pregnant and be subservient to their husbands?
MD...I have nothing against Contraception...but I don't have the right to impose my belief on Catholics and neither does the Government. My only argument for Obama is that some of these hospitals receive government funding but even at that the Freedom of Religion is in the Constitution....Free Contraception....well it isn't.
TM...who is taking away birth control from women....is someone pushing for the ban on this wonderful product? I don't remember hearing that one....Who is pushing for women to be barefoot and pregnant and be subservient? Please post some policies that the GOP is pushing for that supports these statements.
Tap = Well Then Why Are The Churches And gop - Imposing In On This Subject To Begin With ????? After-All THEY Are NOT EVEN FEMALES !!!!!!!!!! Or Are THEY In Disguise ??????
MD...they are fighting for the Freedom of Religion. Again...buddy I have no problem with contraception....but who am I to force someone else to believe what I believe....this is a right that is protected by the constitution.
PAT
The day of and 2 days after Obama's anouncement, they were all for it. Said it was a good compromise. then the right started and the church followed the money.
Tap = Who In The Hell Is Talking About FORCING Contraception On ANYONE ?????? Other Than The WRONG ????? Make SUM Sense Here !!!!!!! Most Of These gop and Churches Want To FORCE = NON-CONTRACEPTION !!!!!!! So Lets Gets Real =Here !!!!!!
Larry...The Church leadership did not pass any judgement on the issue immediately...they wanted to look into the actual language before they gave any position.
MD...it's not about forcing contraception on people....it is about the government forcing religious groups to go against long held church doctrine.
TAP...
Maybe because women were property, not allowed to vote, not allowed to have a MAN's job...
Maybe because the birth control pill wasn't invented until the 1960s...
Maybe because the Founding Fathers could always get their rocks off on whores and slaves, which were legal then...
Maybe because their kids were always chaperoned, or sewed up in sacks if staying overnight with each other (see The Patriot...)
Maybe because, in those days, daughters were property to be locked away...
Maybe because fear of getting pregnant out of wedlock in those days resulting in shunning by the community for life gave girls incentive to stay virgins until marriage...
And the Republicans want to go back to those days...
David...I don't want to go back to those days...However, what I see in the future doesn't look any better. The Constitution still means something to me.
Good luck on this argument, TAP. Know one has tried to make out that the Catholic Church should not have the right to make the decisions for their congregation, but the REPUBLICAN PARTY has tried to make it look as if Obama has. He has not.
The women at this trial are angry because they are tired of men making decisions about their bodies and their marriages.
So did you hear the fool who is financing Santorum Campaign making comments on women's birth control.......He is a knuckle dragging neanderthal.
Tap = I Cant Figure Out WHY The WRONG Continue To Bring religion In On This == It Is NOT About religion == It IS About Womens Health !!!! PERIOD !!!!!!!
MD...TM...The Catholic Church Leadership has vowed to fight this mandate because they claim it goes against their doctrine....who am I and who are you to tell them what their doctrine is? Have you studied it? I know I have not....I don't get it either but I am taking these leaders for their word.
TAP...
I'm not arguing that the Govenment pay for women's contraception...
I'm arguing that health insurance companies should treat all their customers EQUALLY, not differently based on who the employer of the customer is...
Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, and all that stuff...
David....On the surface that sounds like a good argument....but who is paying for this insurance? If it is Catholic Church Money paying for anything that goes against their doctrin....it is strictly forbidden according to their leadership.
Tap = Well Then THEY - The Churchs = Need To Get Their Noses OUT OF POLITICS !!!!!! And Maybe-Perhaps PAY TAXES !!!!!!! Non-Profit Organizations == MY A$$$$$#$ !!!!!!
MD...I would argue that the Government needs to get out of Religion and obey the Constitution....
The Church didn't make this mandate....the government did.
NUFF Said !!!!!!!
Why does the catholic church have their knickers in a twist about this anyway? This whole issue is personal, a choice that is between a woman and her doctor. 98% of good catholic women have used birth control in their lifetimes. 65% of women use birth control for health reasons other than avoiding pregnancy. I am one of them.
Institutions should not have the ability to force their religious viewpoints on anyone. That is part of the First Amendment to the Constitution. This is overreach on the part of the catholic bishops. The Obama administration is following the Constitution - the part where it says "promote the general welfare."
feraltwinkie...the Church leadership would respond to your 98% argument with this...100% of their congregation has sinned however....we are not going to support sin with funding.
MD...I agree NUFF Said...
Then why do many catholic institutions already provide contraception in their health care packages? The bishops did not throw a fit about it until President Obama put it in national legislation.
feraltwinkie....that's a good question and I don't know the answer....I hope someone brings it up to the Catholic Leadership if that is the case. I do know that part of the problem is that Obama privately promised the Catholic Leadership that he would not impose this mandate on them....
Tap, Take a deep breath and smile ! For some time now women's rights have been under attack. Starting with abortion clinics. Do you remember when pages of women's names were posted on the Internet from clinics. That was wrong. You have had many states who have tried to impose one law after another. The woman on Eds show tonight has allot to say and I hope you can watch. She was not permitted to tell her side at a hearing by Issa. I just signed a petition protesting this. 5 men and NOT one woman. Tap when a man has period and a baby, female problems who can be treated by the pill and the list goes on , well maybe those 5 men and Issa can speak for women ! Don"t see that happening do you? This issue is very big to us and its a fight we will have. Any politician or clergy against us will pay the price !!!
David, Bravo! You have stated many things down through history that have controlled women ! I guess the battle of the sex's wages on 10 steps forward and 2 steps back. We are not mild and timid creatures anymore and boy can we raise hell !!!!!! Post 6=28
MD/MI , I am doing great and i am ready to rumble! This is going be great blog night stay around because the fur will fly !!!! "I AM WOMAN HERE ME R-O-A-R- !!!!! LOL
Hey Pam...I don't think anyone is preventing women from getting contraceptives are they? Isn't it readily available at planned parenthood? Why did Obama promise not to impose this mandate on the Church and then go ahead and do it? I think this decision is going to hurt him in the election.
P.S. Please don't make my fur fly....LOL.
He didn't "go ahead and do it" Learn the facts. Religous organizations were ALWAYS exempt. The most recent argument was that Relgious schools and hospitals should also be exempt. This oringally was not the case because these institutions do not employ Catholics exclusively. POTUS came up with a compromise where the costs are absorbed 100% by the insurance company.
where in the bible does it say it's a sin to use birth control? What if another religious organization says it's against their religion to give blood transfusions or against their religion for a women to have a c section birth and they're not going to pay for it. What I'm saying is where does it end.
There are religions that believe just those issues. One doesn't believe in medical treatment.
We have no "freedom of religion". There have been 3 families convicted of child abuse, child endangerment and murder for following their churches beliefs. A recognized religion that can't follow and prctice it's beleif on medical intervention.
women should understand that it is their obligation and duty to assure every egg she produces is fertilized and then carried to term
did = Well Then - Why Dont YOU Carry An Egg To Term ?????
MD...
I'm not sure, but i think Dan was being sarcastic. If any woman had every egg she produced fertilized, she'd be dead before she was twenty...
Because they are not sure it will be a lot of fun, MD....... We would all be dead at 13 if we made sure ever egg we produce is fertilized and carried to term. That would be physically impossible. Where did you study medicine, Dan? Did you even have a science lesson? Do you know about the birds and the bees?
Hey David -How are you today?-I certainly hope he's being sarcastic.
Ha Haaa !!!! Just Using THeir Tactics - SPIN=SPIN=SPIN = They Just Cant Take It !!! Ha HAAAA!!!! Butt Seriously == MEN Should NOT Be Setting These Rules !!!!!! This Is For The Benefit Of WOMEN = In More Ways Than One !!!!!!! ONLY WOMEN Should Be In The Forfront To Make These Calls !!!!!!
Hey DMJ = Hope You Are Doing Well Today - Brother !!!!!!!
Dan, This is medically not possible, Biology will teach you that. A woman would die. If God had wanted a woman to have that many children , there would not be miscarriage, or still birth. We are human beings not baby machines!
Is this your sense of humor or were you in the religious crusades?
Is this you sense of humor or were you a participant in the religious crusades?
I don't believe that danus is being sarcastic, considering that his sentence contains grammatical mistakes and starts with a minuscule letter. He is simply severely ignorant.
@dan - Don't you think that a man should have the obligation to stop jerking himself off and preserve all the sperm that is produced in his gonads, for future usage in the process of egg fertilization?
Look at a drop of semen under an optical microscope at high enough magnification. You'll see a very large number of sperm cells swimming within, just like their lookalikes, baby-frogs swimming in a swamp. Unlike an egg, these sperm cells are lively. So, every time you jerk off, every time a bishop jerks off, you, he kill(s) a potential human life.
I'm wondering what's preventing Rick Santorum from knocking his wife up as many times as Jim bob Duggar as so far far done to his wife Michelle Duggar: over 20 times, 19 children. Either Santorum and his wife stopped having sexual intercourse, or she is on birth control, or they now limit their sexual lives to masturbation.
Mobdaro...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-L3JMk7C1A
It kind of looked to me like what the witch trials must have looked like when they use to burn women at the stake.
That sleazeball Issa is the last one that should be telling a woman what to do. He's as crooked as a dog's hind leg (no offense to the dog)! I can't believe people can get elected to office with as shady a past as some of these people have.
GOP and Nazis have ALOT in common!!! Lets count the ways. First the Nazis Used the Jews as the enemy. Today the GOP use UNIONS as the enemy!! The Nazis got in power telling Germans they would Create Jobs as a ploy to get VOTES. GOP use Jobs as a way to get VOTES! The Nazis employed all the people by going to war! GOP wants the MOST POWERFULL Military in the world. Nazis say Aryan WHITE people are BETTER then everyone else. GOP thinks the same they DON"T tell America. Just look at all the ways they pass laws to prevent Minorities from VOTING. The Nazis had the people have as many KIDS as possible!! The GOP wants to OUTLAW condums and ALL BIRTH control. Why the Birth control? Theyneed Babies as many as Possible!!!!! Good luck if the GOP takes CONTROL of America. God Bless us all!!!!
Larry = Rite - On !!!!!! I Also Believe That insanitorium - From His Own Words = Wishes To Legalize RAPE !!!!!!!
Hi MD/MI- Hope you're doin' great today
Larry...
http://davidmjohnston.newsvine.com/_news/2012/02/13/10393841-14-defining-characteristics-of-fascism
Larry, think you for a level head. Gosh, can you believe these un-educated bozo's trying to make decisions for women and what they decide to do?
Yes, you are right on that Nazi thing.
Hey D-3 = I'M Doin' OK = How Bout' You = and Thanx !!!!!!!
Good to hear MD/MI I'm doin' good I hope
D-3 = Looks Like Its Time To ROCK !!!! Ha HAAAaaaaaa !!!!!! WoooooHoooooooooo !!!!!!
MD...I think that is a great Idea....Politics is giving me a headache.
Check out this heavy Soundgarden Song...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_DPdknDHfA&list=PL024923E4BDC04273&index=80&feature=plpp_video
It is absolutely disgusting what the GOP/Tea Party Congressional men are doing in the US House. They are excluding the people who are the best people to testify on women's health. I have never seen a group of men who are conservative and have NO conscience. They are a joke and this issue of contraceptives is a serious issue to many women and their partners. It makes me sick to think that our tax dollars are paying for these extreme libertarians who want to take complete control of this country to push their self-centered ideology and all of us. We must all do what is necessary to turn the tides by doing our due diligence and vote for sane congressional members instead of a bunch of obstructionists. This country is for all of us and not a select few.
The dems. and libbies don't want government in their bedrooms or the government telling them what to do with their bodies BUT do want the government at the foot of the bed with FREE birth control pills. And if those pills fail, they want the government to pay for the abortion. Laughable!
Don't want the feds. telling you what to do with your bodies and say out of your bedrooms?
Then pay for YOUR own birth control and YOUR own abortions. Then, government in the most intimate part of you life will not be an issue. See? Simple!
pftb = GO Fish !!!!!! GOMER !!!!!!
Are you really that dumb, or do you just like to act that way?
Then pay for YOUR own birth control and YOUR own abortions
Why is it so hard for people such as yourself to understand that it is the FREE-MARKET INSURANCE INDUSTRY who created, pushed, and got the Free-Birth Control Mandate?
Why is it that when Democrats DON'T run at the beck-and-call of Private Industry, they're "socialists/communists/--fill in the blank with more big words the people using them don't understand" but when Democrats DO side with Private Industry "it's all just a big conspiracy to rob you of your toys".
it's not "free birth control," it's copay free preventative care, that was recommended by a panel who studied the issue a lot more in depth than is being discussed right now. it's one of many coverages that are focused on wellness care, not free care. a person pays for this coverage in their premiums. the government is just saying what has to be covered at least in the minimum in healthcare plans. stop saying that people are just going "gimme gimme."
Oh, BTW you left wing Einsteins Obama is the one that started this birth control issue.
This whole controversy was cooked up by the monster in the WH. Many of the news media were asking why he would address this now knowing it would get negative feed back from catholics. Then in just two days he "compromises" making himself look like the good guy.
The seed was planted a few debates ago when little Georgie Stephanopolos (nothing moure than an Omama operative) asked a contraception question to Romney out of the blue.
NOW the dems who never want to talk about social issues want to talk about social issues.
WHY now? Because they DON'T want to talk about the economy.
Wake up, robuts!
There is NO monster in the WH. Are you that much of a racist. It would be the righties that are the robots. Fall in line. But hey, you have NO problem with the audulterer, the business vulture, the drugster and the hate mongers on the right. But God forbit a Black President.
And I will venture a guess you will never make it into the 1% your candidates are going to support.
Shouldn't you be telling this to the Republicans...after all, it is they -- and not the Democrats or the President -- who started whining about Birth Control to begin with.
If Republicans are so d#mn anxious to talk about the economy...why aren't they?
Could it have anything to do with the over 3,000,000 jobs created in the last three years?
Could it have anything to do with the fact that General Motors just posted its largest profit in the history of the company (A Company Republicans publicly demanded to simply be allowed to die)?
Or could it simply be the NOTHING the Republicans have to say will help them because they've become the instruments of their own destruction.
Larry didn't you get the memo from the DNC? All those racist charges aren't working. The whole world still thinks he a dope. Try something else. How about "The 5 trillion dollars that he borrowed really isn't that much".
This is the 21st century, men should not be making these decisions for half the population without their input. As a woman who originally used contraception for health reasons I cannot imagine what my life would have been like without it. The far right is trying to turn back the clock on so many issues, civil rights, womens rights. These tactics of fear and race have to stop. I will be voting against republicans in November if I have to crawl to the ballot box.
I was shocked that you called Ms. Fluke "Sandra." Talk about talking down to people. Yes, the panel shocks me, but clean up your own reference points as well, please.
He is a monster and it is NOT because he is black . The race card being played by the left is tired ,old and worn out and not an excuse for the horrible job he is doing. But how convenient that you can use that as the only reason for people that disagree with his policies.
If Obama had been an adulterer, we would have never known because all the media did was cover up for him.
Drugster? You mean like Barack "...pot had helped and booze,too; maybe a little blow when I could afford it" Obama. And those are his OWN words. If he hadn't said it we wouldn't know about that either.
Business vulture? Jealous of someone successful, are you? Sounds as though YOU are following in line with all that Obama class warfare BS.
Have any problem with those adulterers, business vultures, and drugsters in Hollywood that all support Obama?
If it weren't for double standards, the libs. would have no standards at all!
Are you a new troll? Or an old troll wrapped up in a new name? Either way you need to go to the Fox board where they appreciate your Bull. Because we're sick of it already. We don't suffer fools gladly around here. And yes, YOU would be the fool.
What's wrong MJB? Can't take an opposing point of view (the truth!).
You must be as thin skinned as the president.
When I hear the truth come out of your mouth, I'll let you know. But I think I'll have a long wait.
Although I think this whole fiasco is perpetrated on the behalf of Republicans who can only think with their balls because they have no brains, I listened to your show and what this university student would have said during her testimony before the committee. Frankly I though her story was nice but overly maudlin. It didn't strick at the heart of the matter that Republicans were getting at and the reason they had all men there. I thought the Democrats could have come up with some better witnesses, I also thought the Democrats should have given the bird to the Republicans in charge of this faux meeting as they walked out.
As someone who ended up in an emergency room at midnight during a family vacation with an ovarian cyst the size of a mandarin orange (a cyst about twice the size of the ovary in the first place), this is very important to me.
And perhaps she didn't frame it as well as she could have, talking about it as just a student issue. When I was in the emergency room, I was still a dependent of my parents' insurance plan. Should a father or a mother have to worry when he/she takes a job at a catholic hospital or university that if his child develops those kind of major health issues that her medicine will not be covered because his boss thinks the medicine is immoral?
I'm fortunate that my medicine was covered by the insurance my parents had, and that my $55/month generic medicine is $15/month under the plan. I got a prescription after my visit, and I know that when I want to have kids, I have both of my ovaries. I'm grateful that Ms Fluke was able to at least share the severity of medical reasons that contraceptive medicine is used by many, many people.
When this is talked about as just getting out of being pregnant, and a liscence to sexual libertine lifestyle, I feel so trivialized. And even the times in the media where I've heard this as a medical treatment, it has also been lessened, as an acne treatment, or treatment for PMS. I am so glad that Ms Fluke gave voice to this issue. It's really scary for me to think about if I hadn't gone into the emergency room and had that discovered before it got worse. It's really scary to think what I would have done all through college had I needed to pay full price for my medication.
For people who want women to be squirting out babies at every opportunity, then this coverage is needed just to protect their ability to do so.
I have a similar situation to Ms. Fluke's sister. First of all, I started taking contraceptives before I became sexually active, because it helped control chronic acne. Hormonal problems followed me into adult hood. I have PCOS and take contraceptives because my OBGYN insists that is the main way to prevent the cysts from evolving into ovarian cancer. Many people have never heard of PCOS, and many women don't even know they have it because it manifests into so many other symptoms that cysts on the ovaries often go overlooked. it can be as serious as the case presented by Ms. Fluke. PCOS can manifest into several other health issues such as insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, irregular periods, acne, depression, liver damage. metabolic syndrom The list goes on and on. Contraceptives are a safe and inexpensive (if covered) way to battle the hormonal imbalances that aggravate the symptoms.
I am glad Ed had Ms. Fluke on tonight. This area is overlooked because the far right is so focused on religion. This is NOT a religious issue. It's a health issue.
There is also the fact that I do not want children, cannot afford children, and using contraceptives is the responsible thing to d.
Women should cease from apologizing for their health needs, mental or physical. No excuses are necessary for any person's desire for health or the right to obtain what is necessary for health. Women make the mistake of taking a defensive position when attempting to defend their right to exist equally with men. This is well beyond the contraception issue. It is the right to exist on equal terms whether in the bedroom or boardroom. Think about this: How many women have the right to decide whether or not a male may have a vasectomy or a penile implant or a prescription male enhansment drug.
I have been observing the male vs female struggle for decades. It has always appeared that males seek power and control over females because of their own insecurities, arrogance and ineptitude. Must be some reason for the millions of Viagra prescriptions.
This woman was not allowed to testify because the issue is whether a church that teaches as doctrine that any forms of contraception are wrong should be require to fund and dispense contraception....This is not a women's health issue. This is a religious issue. It is probably a good thing Ms Fluke was denied giving testimony before congress, I found the tale of her friend with pcos who could not afford the prescribed birthcontrol pill cost of $100.00 questionable. I did some googling and found birthcontrol pills through planned parenthood are $15-50 per month. I am a female. I have diabetes. My insurance company does not pay for my diabetic meds. My health would suffer greatly if I just didn't take the meds. But I shopped around Meijers has a free metformin program, Krogers fills my glimeperide for $4.00 which leaves about $13.00 I pay for a three month supply of insulin. Women who need birth control for any reason should shop around for the best price. The issue on the Hill though is not about women's rights as much as it is about religious rights. The Catholic Church has the right to keep faith with a doctrine they have held for over 2000 years.
The Catholic Church is EXEMPT and always has been. Catholic affliated institutions weren't originally. But that issue was solved last week. Everyone was happy except for the GOP who think pressing the issue is some sort ticket to victory in an election year.
The hearing was about allowing all employers the right to refuse to provide their employees any coverage that is against their morals.
And BTW, the GOP has been trying to abolish Planned Parenthood for awhile now, because they provide contraception (it's not just about abortion)
It is NOT a religious issue for the GOP. It's a political ploy.
The Jesuit law school Ms. Fluke was attending provides contraception in the insurance policy it offers to faculty and staff, just not in the policy that students are allowed to purchase. You will note the hypocrisy of this Catholic institution from that.
You should read Ms. Fluke's testimony to understand what is going on.
There are severe difficulties for students who have medical conditions that use hormones for treatment, like endometriosis and polycystic ovary disease. The pills they use cost about $3000 a year and are not covered in many Catholic institutions. These are relatively common illnesses. And they are relatively common. I've had one of them, and my neighbor's daughter has the other.
As per the ignorance of what the issue is about. A quote about "aspirin between the knees" went totally over your heads. Ed and Barbara Boxer and that blonde lady on the show…it means HOLDING AN ASPIRIN BETWEEN YOUR KNEES, BECAUSE IT KEEPS YOUR LEGS CLOSED! Understand now? Doesn't mean it goes into the vagina! DA's!
Well, it's a joke for you if your only sexual position is the missionary. You are an idiot.
You'll never know the truth because you choose not to believe it.
I might just pop in occasionally to debunk the constant LIES that flow from MSNBC. I could hardly do it on a regular basis though, because with all the LIES put out there by this station, it would become a full-time job!
And I have zero desire to spend much time in this MSNBC cess pool!
Good, don't let the door hit you in the a$$.
@particle - The truth hurts you. You are a dumb-nut idiot. Don't come back here.
Patrice: Push yourself away from your keyboard and go take your meds and lie down. Don't forget to wash it down with your Republican approved Kool Aid. The Mothership will be here shortly to take you home.
Darrell Issa is the most corrupt Congressman still in office today. Why isn't he under any investigation by the Justice Department? I am wondering what he, Roy Blunt, Scott Brown, Marco Rumbio or Rick Santorum would do if any of their daughters had the same health issue as the student in question here. I bet Mitt Rmoney's $10,000 that every single one of these hypocrites will allow that daughter to take those birth control pills. Karma can be a very ugly bitch.
I see the Republican paid bloggers are here in force.
Still doesn't make them right just points out how desperate they are to get their Faux news exposed.