"Where are the women?" Carolyn Maloney (D-NY)

There was a Parliamentary hearing this week about the contraception coverage in President Obama's new healthcare reform.  Here is an image of the panel:

Dudes who can't have sex.

The video up there are two women, Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), who ultimately walked out of the hearing in protest.  They were protesting the fact that there was not a single woman allowed to speak about this issue.

Folks, its not just the contraception rules in the new healthcare.  Have you heard the idiot Santorum speak about sex?  He doesn't believe in the need for contraception at all.  Why?  Because sex should be special and its more special if you are only doing it to make a baby.  Don't believe me?  Read this (there is a video here too so you can see and hear this nutjob).

And if you think for even a second that Romney feels differently, well you might be wrong.  We really don't know though because he sure does like to change his mind.  Maybe in Massachusetts he is for it but in the south he's against it?  In the primaries he's against it, but if he gets the nomination he'll be for it?  Who the hell knows.  He's Mormon, so they like to have a shit ton of kids with all those sister-wives so I'm gonna go with against contraception.

I'm feeling a little like the dude from Time Traveler's Wife. Because to think that this conversation is happening five decades after The Pill was created is a little insane.

Ladies, are you watching this shit??  THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!!  The whole thing smacks of sexism, misogyny, and chauvinism.  This panel of crusty old dudes are discussing what women need and what we our rights are in reference to how we care for ourselves, how we control our reproductive system and when/if we have children.

They want to deny a certain prescription that is proven to:
* Lower the risk of cervical cancer
* Regulates menstruation cycles (some women need the pill for periods that are very heavy - this results in iron deficiencies, anemia, fatigue, skin disorders and infertility)
* Prevents ovarian cysts from forming (these cysts can grow to the size of grapefruit, they burst and result in excruciating pain, they can actually grow into tumors and require surgical intervention that may render the woman infertile)
* Lessens the symptoms of PMDD or eradicates it altogether (PMDD is a form of PMS that results in depression, suicidal ideation, psychosis, and much more.)

Women who have any of these medical conditions or are at a higher risk of cervical cancer are denied hormonal birth control prescriptions if they work for say, a Catholic hospital.  Even if your doctors prescribes the medication for these purposes, your insurance will deny you coverage.  There is no way around this.  I know, I work for one and I have all of the things I just listed.

Every other month I have an ovarian cyst burst.  It is incredibly painful and leaves me in bed for several hours doubled over in pain.  I get can't the medication through my employer because they think its "immoral."  Its immoral to relieve pain for someone??  I could have sworn "healing" was in the mission statement.

Essentially, I am being denied medical treatment because some dude in Italy thinks sex is bad.  And you know what?  I'm not even going to go there.  Just gonna leave the whole pedophile thing alone.  Yep, walking away right now.  I will say that there are many, many other Catholic organizations that DO provide contraception coverage for their employees.  There are twenty-two states who require employers to provide this care and the gates to hell haven't opened and swallowed anyone up.  An interesting article about this is here.

Pay attention!  Educate yourselves.  VOTE. Tell these assholes to butt out of your doctor's offices, your bedrooms, your ovaries.  I am absolutely outraged that this sham is taking place in OUR nation's capital.

Do they not know we outnumber them?