---
title: "Experts Discuss Women's Health Movement and Healthcare Reform"
date: 2014-03-18T22:44:35-04:00
author: OBOS Admin
canonical_url: "https://ourbodiesourselves.org/blog/experts-discuss-womens-health-movement-and-healthcare-reform"
section: Blog (Archive)
---
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[From the Archives of Our Bodies, Our Blog](/blog)# Experts Discuss Women's Health Movement and Healthcare Reform

By Rachel Walden • March 18, 2014

Please note: This entry -- originally posted at [Our Bodies, Our Blog](https://ourbodiesourselves.org/blog) -- has not been updated since the publication date listed above.

![Screenshot METV Health March](data:image/png;base64,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) 

"We are a very rich country, but we have rationed healthcare in a way that is unconscionable."  
  
Judy Norsigian, Our Bodies Ourselves co-founder and executive director, doesn't hold back in this March 6 [discussion on women's health](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8SlAaLK5KQ "Judy Norsigian and Sonia Pressman Fuentes discuss women's health") with Sonia Pressman Fuentes, National Organization for Women (NOW) co-founder. (Watch the video below.)  
  
Luz Corcuera, program director of [Healthy Start Coalition of Manatee, Fla.](http://www.hsmanatee.com/ "Healthy Start Coalition"), hosts the dynamic conversation, which covers the history of the women's health movement and the founding of Our Bodies Ourselves and NOW, as well as current healthcare issues, the effect of poverty on health, and more.  
  
At about half-way in, Fuentes talks about joining the the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in the late 1960s and being the first female lawyer in the general counsel's office, where she encountered reluctance to enforce the sex discrimination aspect of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin.  
  
Fuentes wasn't an activist at the time, but as one of the few women at the Commission, she found herself frequently in the position of representing women's interests.  
  
"Whenever an issue came up, I always said, 'Well what about sex discrimination?' So my boss, the general counsel, took to calling me a sex maniac because I always raised the issue of sex discrimination."  
  
The whole interview is well-worth watching. Thanks to Manatee Educational TV in Florida for hosting the conversation!  
  

---

#### 1 Response

Our Bodies Ourselves is no longer able to accept comments.

**Ruby Paxx** on Mar 20, 2014

Sonia you are a true champ. I can't believe your boss even responded in such a way. It's such a double standard in our society when it comes to sex. Keep fighting and moving forward. I hope more and more women support you.

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