Michigan State Rep. Lisa Brown and appropriate language
Last week Representative Brown spoke on the floor of the House, in discussion relating to one of the multitude of bills introduced by Republicans all over the country that act to limit or eliminate access to reproductive health care by women. The official line is that all of these bills are meant to stamp out the murder of unborn Americans (my own paraphrasing), but many of them act to limit access to information about sexual health and contraception of any form, and to make it more difficult for women of any age to get services such as pap smears and breast exams if they are not well insured or wealthy.
As part of her address, Rep. Brown read a letter from a constituent, addressed to the speaker of the Michigan house, who closed with "Frankly, Mr. Speaker, I'm flattered that you are all so interested in my vagina, but no means no."
The next day Rep. Brown discovered that she was banned from talking on the House floor.
This is the message I just sent to Jase Bolger, Speaker of the House.
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Last week Rep. Brown read a constituent letter on the floor, and the next morning she discovered she would not be allowed to speak until some unspecified future date.
Her initial understanding was that the use of the word "vagina" was responsible, but she was later told that the Republican leadership in the House felt they had been accused of rape, and that this was what they found unacceptable.
This action demonstrates a serious problem. After recent legislation passed by Republican-dominated states such as Virginia, can you understand why many women could feel as though they were being made subject to a state-mandated form of rape? If not, please talk to some women on the subject of trans-vaginal ultrasound probes. Other states have passed laws declaring that pregnancy begins on the first day of a woman's period BEFORE she becomes pregnant (Arizona), and have threatened prosecution of a woman for engaging in action potentially harmful to a pregnancy who suffered a miscarriage (GA).
If citizens of Michigan express their concerns about your legislative actions, and their concerns reflect awareness of what other Republican legislators have already done or are planning to do, is it not your job to speak to the concerns of your constituents? Lisa Brown was doing just that last week, and you gagged her from speaking on that, or any other, topic.
If you feel that you have been accused of rape, is it because you feel guilty?
As part of her address, Rep. Brown read a letter from a constituent, addressed to the speaker of the Michigan house, who closed with "Frankly, Mr. Speaker, I'm flattered that you are all so interested in my vagina, but no means no."
The next day Rep. Brown discovered that she was banned from talking on the House floor.
This is the message I just sent to Jase Bolger, Speaker of the House.
===================
Last week Rep. Brown read a constituent letter on the floor, and the next morning she discovered she would not be allowed to speak until some unspecified future date.
Her initial understanding was that the use of the word "vagina" was responsible, but she was later told that the Republican leadership in the House felt they had been accused of rape, and that this was what they found unacceptable.
This action demonstrates a serious problem. After recent legislation passed by Republican-dominated states such as Virginia, can you understand why many women could feel as though they were being made subject to a state-mandated form of rape? If not, please talk to some women on the subject of trans-vaginal ultrasound probes. Other states have passed laws declaring that pregnancy begins on the first day of a woman's period BEFORE she becomes pregnant (Arizona), and have threatened prosecution of a woman for engaging in action potentially harmful to a pregnancy who suffered a miscarriage (GA).
If citizens of Michigan express their concerns about your legislative actions, and their concerns reflect awareness of what other Republican legislators have already done or are planning to do, is it not your job to speak to the concerns of your constituents? Lisa Brown was doing just that last week, and you gagged her from speaking on that, or any other, topic.
If you feel that you have been accused of rape, is it because you feel guilty?