KEITH OLBERMANN: Last week, President Obama defeated the latest ginned-up controversy by reaching a quick compromise on the contraceptive insurance mandate. The deal was widely praised by religious leaders and women's health organizations.
In our fourth story — despite the compromise, Republican Congressman Darrell Issa held a hearing to discuss how the contraception mandate was robbing people of their religious freedom. A discussion about women's health that included no women.
In the hearing today, subtly titled "Lines Crossed: Separation of Church and State: Has the Obama Administration Trampled on Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Conscience," Representative Issa attempted to show how the compromise trampled on the First Amendment. But the idea that a discussion about women's health care consisted of no women, led Democratic members to question the validity of said hearing.
(Excerpt from video clip) MALONEY: When I look at this panel, I don't see one single woman 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. Where are the women?
OLBERMANN: Two women were hurriedly tacked on to the schedule of the second session, neither of them a minority and both against the contraception compromise.
Democrats had wanted to call a woman in favor of the compromise named Sandra Fluke, Georgetown University law student, former president of Students for Reproductive Justice. But Issa denied the request saying Miss Fluke was, "not appropriate or qualified."
They let Issa be there.
But nothing said on The Hill today summed up the backwards thinking here of this sham hearing as well as the man single-handedly propping up the campaign of Rick Santorum, the impossibly named Mr. Friess.
(Excerpt from video clip) FRIESS: This contraception thing, my gosh, it's so — it's such inexpensive. You know, back in my days they used Bayer aspirin for contraception. The gals put it between their knees and it wasn't that costly.
OLBERMANN: Joining me is Democratic representative from the 14th district of New York State, Carolyn Maloney. Congresswoman, thank you for your time tonight.
CAROLYN MALONEY: Well, thank you, Keith. Thank you for speaking out on this and putting it on the air, it's an outrage. They really showed their anti-woman, anti-choice, and now, anti-birth control colors today in front of an all-male religious leaders, with an all-male GOP leadership.
OLBERMANN: I've heard a lot of crazy things in my life, but this is clearly top 100. But the one thing I'm wondering is the, sort of, undertext to this. Was there a — the proverbial dog whistle in this? Were the Republicans deliberately doing this to say, "Hey, guess what? We men are going to decide all women's health issues from now on, or at least try to."
MALONEY: Well, uh, I think that's what they were saying, but I think it blew up in their faces, because half of the population of this country are women. And we will not be sent back to the Dark Ages. And we will not be denied our rights.
We're talking about insurance coverage for basic health needs including the right to plan our families, and take care of our health needs. Our one woman witness that we tried to get on the panel was going to talk about how birth control pills are used for a whole slew of things that are important to women's health.
OLBERMANN: Do you have any doubt that the Republicans seem to think that, for some reason, now they can make a serious assault — not merely on insurance, and not merely on this exaggerated religious question relating to the insurance, relating to birth control — but they actually think now, for some reason, there's some window of opportunity to roll back access generally to the population to birth control?
MALONEY: I really do believe so. There are a number of initiatives in states across this country that roll it back. And the attack that they have, it's clear — they not only want to overturn Roe v. Wade, a women's right to choose, but they want to overturn the Griswold v. Connecticut decision in 1967 that gave birth control to married couples. So the — and these assaults on women's rights, forcing them to have sonograms. All of these ways that they're chipping away at a women's privacy.
They're not doing it in other areas, but they're doing it in women's rights, and women's bodies, and women's health care.
OLBERMANN: Politically speaking, is it the dumbest thing they could possibly do at the moment? Because there were some indications that there were some flagging support among women, certainly compared to the Democratic results of 2008. And independent women, in particular, might be less enthusiastic about 2012 then they had been. I imagine another couple weeks of this could turn that around by themselves.
MALONEY: I agree, Keith. Whoever came — if this was a Republican GOP plan, uh, it certainly back — blew up in their faces, and whoever came up with it should be tarred and fathered.
But, uh, women in America — Republican, Democratic, independent, conservative, liberal — women will not stand for this. This is about our basic health care, it's about our health and our privacy, and our ability to make decisions about our health care.
The president's plan was a balanced one. Insurance that in no way infringed on the conscious of religious leaders or of anyone, but basically said that it was there to be purchased independently from insurance companies, and they're even opposed to that. So, uh, it's like, what century did you wake up in?
It's — it's an outrage, and women will not stand for it. And like-minded men will not stand for it.
OLBERMANN: And speaking of a past century, Mr. Santorum's backer, the comment from Foster Friess about aspirin — I'm surprised he didn't mention coat hangers. I mean, what an extraordinarily unqualified individual to have any say in the public discourse of this county, unless it happens to be 1930 again.
MALONEY: Well, also, Mr. Friess is an example of what Citizen United gave us.
OLBERMANN: Right.
MALONEY: That one person who's very wealthy can have an undo influence in campaigns. If he wasn't around, Santorum wouldn't even be around. If you look at some of Santorum's statements and interviews that he gave, saying he doesn't believe in birth control. He doesn't believe in women having any right to control their own bodies. He's on record saying that. And it's people like Mr. Friess who can give unlimited amounts of money that are influencing our political process.
The Citizens United was the most undemocratic decision ever made. We should have a real uprising of citizens to repeal that, to have a constitutional amendment to stop it, because people like this Mr. Friess — who is obviously not in tune to what is happening in America, and obviously very anti-woman, anti-choice, anti-reproductive decisions of women, and anti-birth control.
OLBERMANN: Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney of New York, great thanks for your time tonight. Good to talk to you.
MALONEY: Thank you, Keith, for speaking up and putting this on the air.
OLBERMANN: Of course.
MALONEY: It's an important issue.
OLBERMANN: Indeed it is. Thank you again.
