Melissa tweeted this prior to Sunday’s show:
Oh yeah and today on @MHPshow I’m going to say “vagina” and no Michigan Republican is going to stop me! #nerdland
— Melissa Harris-Perry (@MHarrisPerry) June 17, 2012
If you think that’s oddly defensive, you may not have caught Melissa’s discussion later that morning with Michigan State Rep. Lisa Brown, who had been banned from dissenting vocally about an anti-abortion bill Republicans were advocating. The Democrat rightly went to the heart of what the debate is all about when she said, on the floor to the Speaker of the House:
“I’m flattered that you’re all so interested my vagina, but ‘no’ means ‘no.’”
As The Nation‘s Jessica Valenti put it, “Apparently, it’s not enough that Republicans have made it a political priority to roll back women’s reproductive rights—they also want to ensure that we remain silent as they do it.”
Melissa welcomed Brown and a panel of guests on Sunday to discuss the rollback of women’s reproductive rights not only in Michigan, but nationwide by Republican lawmakers. An important update: the day after appearing on “MHP,” Brown got the Republicans’ gander in a particularly creative way. From our friends at The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell:
The way to fight back against Republicans who ban you from speaking after using the word “vagina” on the House floor? You perform “The Vagina Monologues,” naturally. Massive crowds gathered today on the steps of the Michigan capital to watch State Rep. Lisa Brown and about 10 other female lawmakers give a dramatic reading. The congresswoman was silenced after uttering the word “vagina” on the floor last week while debating an anti-abortion bill. Before checking out Lawrence’s Monday interview with Brown and playwright Eve Ensler, take a look first at how the “Did She Just Say That” segment we’ve done in the past took on a whole new meaning, as you can see that below. Beneath the jump, you’ll find the entirety of the conversation that followed. See you all at 10am ET back in #nerdland, folks.
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