Liberal women were in an uproar over the all-male panel at Thursday's congressional hearing on the HHS birth control mandate, and CNN made sure to tout their displeasure. Anchor Hala Gorani emphasized the "fireworks" over the hearing while ignoring the Republican explanation as to why a female pro-birth control witness was refused participation in the panel.
Gorani played clips of two Democratic congresswomen decrying the all-male panel and gave the Democratic talking points as to why two congresswomen left the hearing in protest. "The two Democratic women tried to get a witness added who favors birth control services, but were refused. Thus, the walkout," Gorani tersely explained. [Video below the break.]
Of course, Gorani failed to add the GOP explanation for the refusal, that the Democrats did not add the witness in time before the hearing and that she was not a member of the clergy.
A letter from Issa's staff stated, “As the hearing is not about reproductive rights but instead about the administration’s actions as they relate to freedom of religion and conscience, he believes that Ms. Fluke is not an appropriate witness.”
After building up the controversy for two minutes, Gorani briefly noted that the afternoon panel included two women before adding "none of the ten testifying before the committee spoke in favor of the Obama administration's birth control insurance decision."
