Videos Discuss War on Women, Va. Ultrasound Bill

February 23, 2012 — The following summarizes select women's health-related videos.

Pelosi on 'Rachel Maddow': House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) discusses the contraceptive coverage debate and how it relates to other attacks on women's health care. "For 25 years I've been saying this isn't about abortion, ... it's about contraception," Pelosi said. "What is interesting about this is at last the country knows all this talk about reproductive freedom is really extends to something as personal as family planning and birth control" (Maddow, "The Rachel Maddow Show," MSNBC, 2/22).

Comic relief : Virginia lawmakers were lampooned this week on "The Daily Show" and "Saturday Night Live" over a bill that would require a woman to undergo an ultrasound before an abortion. Jon Stewart blasts the lack of an exception for rape survivors and notes that because most abortions take place in the first trimester, the mandated screening would involve a transvaginal ultrasound (Stewart, "The Daily Show," Comedy Central, 2/21). On "SNL," Amy Poehler quips, "I love transvaginal. It's my favorite airline," before shifting gears and telling lawmakers, "Don't tell me what to do!" Poehler and Seth Myers also rip leaders of a House committee for refusing to let a woman testify at a hearing on contraceptive coverage rules (Poehler/Myers, "Saturday Night Live," NBC, 2/18).

War on women: National Organization for Women President Terry O'Neill, Democratic strategist Krystal Ball and "Daily Show" co-creator Lizz Winstead weigh in on the latest attacks in the war on women -- from the contraceptive coverage debate to "personhood" measures and the Virginia ultrasound bill. O'Neill says the Virginia bill deserves the national attention it's getting but also notes that ultrasound laws already exist in several other states (Schultz, "The Ed Show," MSNBC, 2/22). On "Hardball," Salon's Joan Walsh and former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele discuss the political repercussions of attacking women's health care in an election year (Matthews, "Hardball," MSNBC, 2/17).