Paul Ryan’s Disregard For Women’s Health

By: Meredith Kelly

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During an interview on MSNBC’s Morning Joe yesterday, Speaker Ryan claimed he and the Republican Party were in favor of healthcare that “put the patient in charge”:

“The principle for tax reform is get the cronyism out of the code, give people more power, lower rates, make us more competitive for faster growth and on health care, put the patient in charge. Let she and her doctor be in charge of deciding their health care. Give people more choices, more insurance competition. And I believe these principles when applied to this problem offer better solutions.”

Really, Speaker Ryan?

When you and House Republicans voted time after time to defund Planned Parenthood, an organization that provides critical screenings for women’s healthcare – was that “letting [her] and her doctor be in charge of deciding their health care”?

Or maybe it was when you and your party passed budgets that eliminated funding for the Title X health clinics that serve millions of middle and low-income women across the country – was that “letting [her] and her doctor be in charge of deciding their health care”?

Or was it when House Republicans – for the first time in nearly 35 years – voted to block a D.C. law that protected employees from workplace discrimination based on reproductive health decisions, like using contraception or terminating a pregnancy? Was what you meant by “letting [her] and her doctor be in charge of deciding their health care”?

Ryan’s response is yet another example of his “do as I say, not as I do” “Communications Speakership.”