Outcry over bill requiring transvaginal ultrasounds

>> to more information before they make a very difficult decision in their lives. the portion that i want to clarify that i think that people say that this is infringing on the rights of women is the vaginal transducer. because of the language either/or. however, i do want to make sure that we leave that up to the woman's choice. just clarify that language. i think that's very important.

>> that was alabama state senator clay scofield responding to public outcry over a bill he's sponsoring that would require women seeking abortions to undergo either an abdominal or transvaginal ultrasound . he said he'd clarify the language and leave the method of the ultrasound up to the woman. virginia republicans retreated another step today on a similar bill after governor mcdonald's retreat last week on that same bill. today the virginia senate decided to delay its vote on that vote indefinitely. the bill no longer requires an invasive procedure but does require a woman to undergo ultrasound imaging before any abortion in virginia . joining me now is democratic national committee chair, florida congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz . thank you very much for joining me tonight. i want to show you a clip of darrell issa , who famously held that hearing on contraception last week with no women witnesses. let's hear what he says about that now.

>> right now there are attacks on the constitution. and some of them are subtle and some are less subtle. i'm going to relate something to you. last week there was a hearing that was spun and it was essentially spun. we all saw it. i won't call it my greatest success to get a point across on behalf of the american people .

>> congresswoman, you know the house better than i do. i want to try to translate what i think i just heard and correct me if i'm wrong. i believe i heard a house chairman saying all sorts of self-justifying stuff about what he did, but in the end admitting he really, really made a big mistake .

>> well, i had trouble hearing what mr. issa was saying. but the visual last week of an entire table full of men with no women commenting on women 's rights and women 's ability to be able to plan our families and control whether or not we become pregnant and -- or carry a pregnancy, to have only men commenting on that, was just absolutely outrageous. now, you know, to add insult to injury , with both alabama and virginia talking about a government-mandated transvaginal or physical inspection of a woman's body before she could make a decision on what she would do when it came to carrying a pregnancy to term is so personally violative that it's just, you know -- every single day there's another example of how the republicans forfeit any claim to being the party of smaller government. i don't think they ever have been and they have demonstrated every day for the last couple of weeks how personally violative they believe government should be. particularly as it relates to women .

>> the heritage foundation conservative group in washington still pushing the idea that the president's compromise language on employer-provided contraception is still an outrage. but we have polling showing that 61% approve of where the president ended up on it, 61% of catholics identical to the population at large approve of where the president is on this. why can't they read the polls and understand where they are politically on the other side of this? approximate well, because on the republican side , they are so extreme. and -- that they've demonstrated repeatedly that these are decisions that are being made on the republican side by men who have clearly never had any of these examinations and who certainly don't carry pregnancies and don't make about whether or not they would be become pregnant. so they are completely out of touch.

>> congress woman debbie wasserman-schultz, i'm sorry we ran out of time. thank you for joining me.

>> thank you.