Representative Gerald Connolly (D-VA) accused his colleagues of “misogyny” during Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards’ congressional testimony on Tuesday.
Connolly said, “I hope every American woman is watching today’s hearing, because just the visuals, as well as the the audios tell you a lot. It — my colleagues like to say there’s no war on women. Look at how you’ve been treated as a witness. Intimidation, talking over, interrupting, cutting off sentences, criticizing you because of your salary. How dare you? Who do you think you are? Making a professional salary as a head of a premier national organization, and daring to actually make decisions as the head of that organization? Lord almighty, what’s America coming to? The disrespect, the misogyny rampant here today tells us what’s really going on here.”
He continued, “This isn’t about some bogus video, the author of whom does not have the courage to appear here. Nor would the majority call him, because they know he’ll make a bad witness under oath. This is about a conservative philosophy that says, we are constitutionalists, they hold it up. We believe in rugged individualism and personal liberty, with one big carve-out, though. There’s an asterisk in that assertion, and that is, except when it comes to women controlling their own bodies, and making their own health decisions. You would never know that the Constitution, according to the Supreme Court, guarantees a right of choice. Hopefully, apparently, we’re going to erode that choice, and that right, by using insinuation, and slander, and half-truths to besmirch a premier organization, who’s primary mission is to provide health services, both to men and women, but primarily women. You know, this notion — one of my colleagues said well, getting rid of Planned parenthood will just hand over these functions to community health clinics, and other nonprofits that can take up the slack. Now, if you were really committed to that principle, surely you would agree to the expansion of Medicaid, as provided under the Affordable Care Act to, in my home state of Virginia, 400,000 people who aren’t covered.”
(h/t The Hill)
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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