June 09, 2015 05:29 PM UTC

A Word You Shouldn't Use To Describe Women: "Hysterical"

•  
• by: Colorado Pols

The Fort Collins Coloradoan’s Bill Theobald caught up with Sen. Cory Gardner for a story this week, and asked Gardner about his recent proposal to allow some contraceptives now available only by prescription to be sold over the counter. As our readers know, Gardner has taken a lot of heat since his OTC birth control legislation was introduced–though a nominal keeping of a campaign promise, Gardner’s bill could force millions of women who presently receive contraceptive coverage without cost under the Affordable Care Act to pay for the same medication.

It’s worth remembering that Gardner proposed over the counter contraception aS a way of deflecting from his longtime support for the “Personhood” abortion bans, which in addition to banning all abortions would have restricted access to common forms of birth control. So it’s not like he can be considered, you know, an expert on this stuff.

As the Coloradoan reports, he’s not very good at explaining himself either:

The one piece of legislation that Gardner has been involved in that has attracted the most attention is a bill to encourage drug makers to offer contraceptives that don’t require a prescription.

The bill was introduced earlier this month by Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and co-sponsored by Gardner.

Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, called the bill “a sham and an insult to women.” She and others said the bill is designed to make contraceptives more expensive because if they are offered over the counter, the cost would not be covered by insurance.

Gardner called the reaction “hysterical.” [Pols emphasis]

“This is about providing safe and effective contraception on their time when they want it not when the doctor’s office is open,” Gardner said.

The word “hysterical”–which has its origins in dark-age superstitions about pregnancy and women’s emotional states–is not always considered sexist. Heck, we’ve used it ourselves a few times to describe such things as the Republican Party’s outlandish response to Obamacare. But in the context of a discussion about birth control for women, it’s an unusually poor choice of words. The fact is, Gardner has no good answer for women who would be forced to pay under his proposal for something they get now without cost. He didn’t have a good answer on the campaign trail last year, and he doesn’t have one now.

But for the sake of not just Gardner, but also so many other Republicans looking to emulate his example of “muddying up” the issue to placate swing voters, he really needs to figure out a way to talk about this without insulting women who happen to have a legitimate concern about his proposal.

Unless, of course, he’s not even trying anymore.