Washington D.C. -Today, Congressman Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, along with Sandra Fluke, who was denied the opportunity to testify at a 2012 Committee hearing on the Affordable Care Act’s required inclusion of contraception coverage in health plans, issued the following statement on the Supreme Court’s ruling in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby:
“Today, the Supreme Court has issued a ruling that removes women who work at some companies from the decision making process about their own care and hands those very personal choices over to boardroom executives and human resources departments. While we firmly believe that every American should have the ability to practice his or her own faith, we cannot ignore the interests and the health of our nation’s women. The pill and other contraceptives have had a profound impact on the well-being of women, giving them the capacity to make the best decisions about very personal matters for themselves and their families - and today’s decision puts the well-being of many women in jeopardy. Action will be required to ensure that women employed by these corporations continue to have affordable access to reproductive healthcare."
Cummings invited then-Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke to testify at a February 2012 Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing, but Committee Chairman Darrell Issa refused to let her testify. Issa invited an all-male first panel of witnesses to that hearing, who all opposed the inclusion of birth control coverage in all plans under the Affordable Care Act. Fluke appeared at the hearing ready to testify, but Issa barred her from the panel.
