There were no explicit questions about women’s rights in the fourth Democratic debate Sunday night, but the candidates, particularly Hillary Clinton, did what they could to insert them into the conversation anyway.
Asked about her agenda for her first 100 days in office, Clinton made sure to add, “guaranteeing, finally, equal pay for women’s work,” to big applause. While defending her agenda on health care, the Democratic front-runner mentioned that a benefit of the Affordable Care Act is that “we have seen women no longer paying more for our insurance than men.”
She wasn’t the only one. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley mentioned ” equal pay for equal work,” and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said, “The pay equity for women, the American people want it.”
But the fact that there were no explicit questions about abortion rights, and that there have been none in the Democratic debate to date, rankled some activists on Twitter.
Also how about about a reproductive rights question? #DemDebate
— Ari Rabin-Havt (@AriRabinHavt) January 18, 2016Great to hear a discussion on health care…but what about abortion coverage? Ever going to talk about that? #BeBoldEndHyde #DemDebate
— All* Above All (@AllAboveAll) January 18, 2016288 abortion restrictions have been enacted since 2010. Can we talk about what these candidates would do about it? #ReproRights #DemDebates
— Julie Zeilinger (@juliezeilinger) January 18, 2016Moderators have not asked abt reproductive rights and justice as an issue, even though it profoundly affects everyone. #DemDebate
— Lizz Winstead (@lizzwinstead) January 18, 2016if we go through another democratic debate without a question about nationwide attacks on reproductive rights…
— laura olin (@lauraolin) January 18, 2016Yeah. The way this election has been re-framed away from reproductive rights in the midst of attacks is depressing. https://t.co/PqYOhPP5iY
— Sady Doyle (@sadydoyle) January 18, 2016
Irin Carmon