Gillibrand: Contraception Debate Will Cost GOP Votes
todayonthetrail.today.msnbc.msn.com
New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s lilting voice takes on a hard edge when discussing what she sees as a decidedly sexist undercurrent in Washington.
“This has been an outrageous discussion, an attempt to deny healthcare to American women and an attempt to deny all women’s rights,” Gillibrand said of the heated debate over requiring insurance carriers to offer contraception coverage to employees of religious institutions.
It has reignited the culture wars in political circles. “The Republican leadership over-played their hand and they are going to lose moderate and Republican women voters because of it,” she told TODAY.com.
Gillibrand, who hails from a family of politically active women, is keenly aware that as a female lawmaker, her calling as a public servant also involves advocating for the rights of women.
When conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh called Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke a “slut” and “prostitute” for speaking out as a birth control activist, Gillibrand emailed supporters that his attack was “one of the most vile tirades against women I’ve ever heard.”
She was also one of the lawmakers who supported Fluke in February in her efforts to ensure women have access to contraception covered by health plans. Fluke was denied a chance to speak before an all-male, Republican-led congressional panel on the issue.
Fluke later spoke before an unofficial Democrat-led panel called by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
“If we had 51 percent of the women in Congress we would not be having this discussion,” Gillibrand said, referring to the number of women in the electorate.