Kamala Harris, Cory Booker share dismay over women's health not being discussed during debates

Kamala Harris.
(Image credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

After several exchanges between candidates about Medicare-for-all and who will pay for it, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) declared that it was time to talk about something that has been swept under the rug.

"This is the sixth debate we have had in this presidential cycle, and not nearly one word with all of these discussions about health care on women's access to reproductive health care, which is under full-on attack in America today," she said. "It's outrageous." Several states have "passed laws that will virtually prevent women from having access to reproductive health care and it is not an exaggeration to say women will die," she added. "Poor women, women of color, will die because these Republican legislatures in these various states who are out of touch with America are telling women what to do with our bodies."

Women make up the majority of the population in the United States, Harris continued, and "people need to keep their hands off of women's bodies and let women make the decisions about their own lives. Let's talk about that. That is a significant health care issue in America day." Harris may have wanted to talk about it, but moderator Erin Burnett did not, as she abruptly changed the subject to jobs.

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When it was his turn to speak, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said he had to talk about reproductive rights, as they are "under attack" across the United States. "God bless Kamala, but you know what? Women should not be the only ones taking up this cause and this fight," Booker said. "Men, it's not just because women are our daughters and our friends and our wives, it's because women are people and people deserve to control their own bodies." When he was finished, Burnett said the moderators will get to the issue later in the night — stay tuned.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.