Posts Tagged ‘reproductive choices’
Stand with women and against Stupak
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Women hold only 17% of the seats on Congress.
With the health care debate raging now in the Senate, women’s health is on the potential chopping block. And as we saw with the anti-choice Stupak-Pitts amendment, our reproductive choices are being attacked.
Congresswomen have been leading the charge against such restrictions, but they can’t do it alone—17% isn’t strong enough to fully defend women’s health.
Women may only be a fraction of those in elected office, but they are over 50% of the population and deserve to have their health needs supported.
Women can’t shouldn’t be the only ones defending reproductive health.
On health care, women can’t get a word in edgewise
Written by WCF Fellow Kayla
What’s the answer we get from male Congressmen about the importance of health care reform to women? “I object.”
This past Saturday, members of the House Democratic Woman’s Caucus took the floor to speak out in favor of the health care bill because of its benefits for women.
They were greeted with nothing but bullying. Or, as ThinkProgress puts it, “Screams, Shouts, And Delay Tactics.”
Congresswoman after Congresswoman stood at the podium demanding health care for the sake of reproductive health choices for women. Again and again, Republicans interrupted every member of the women’s caucus—objecting over and over to their plea for health care for women.
Eventually it got to the point where none of the members of the women’s caucus could speak because they were interrupted so frequently and treated so unfairly.
These attacks on members of the female caucus demonstrate why we so desperately need women in office. We need women to stand up for women’s rights and stand up for women’s reproductive health choices.
We need women to be elected to Congress so they can stand up together against abusive men in the House and demand equal rights. Because apparently, it takes a woman to stand up for women’s rights.
