All day, that question has been in my inbox and on TV. Andrea Mitchell even referred to an “all-male hearing,” as Barbara Boxer rallied her feminist troops to watch. As I have noted, asking that question does require ignoring a Republican congresswoman who was present and questioning witnesses (some women walked out for show, never to see the second panel, which had female members), as well as a doctor from Calvin College and a university administrator from Oklahoma Christian University present. 

It also ignores women who have been criticizing the mandate since at least January 20, when HHS made it final. I would fall into that category, as would the many other women who signed that “Unacceptable” protest letter last Friday (after the president’s “accommodation” announcement), organized by Notre Dame law professor Carter Snead. They include: 

• Mary Ann Glendon, Learned Hand Professor of Law, Harvard University
• Lorraine Pangle, professor of government, co-director, Thomas Jefferson Center for the Study of Core Texts and Ideas, University of Texas at Austin
• Margaret F. Brinig, Fritz Duda Family Chair in Law, Notre Dame Law School
• Ann W. Astell, professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame
• M. Katherine Tillman, professor Emerita, Program of Liberal Studies, University of Notre Dame
• Amy Barrett, professor of Law, University of Notre Dame
• Mary M . Keys, associate professor of political science, University of Notre Dame
• Angela M. Pfister, associate director, Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture; concurrent instructor, Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame
• Nicole Stelle Garnett, professor of law, University of Notre Dame
• Marian E. Crowe, adjunct assistant professor, visiting scholar, Program of Liberal Studies, University of Notre Dame
• Ann Hartle, professor of philosophy, Emory University
• Maria E. Garlock, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and director, Program in Architecture and Engineering, Princeton University
• Jacqueline M. Nolan-Haley, professor of waw and director, ADR & Conflict Resolution Program, Fordham University
• Elizabeth Komives, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, UC San Diego
• Helen Alvaré, associate professor of law, George Mason University
• Maria Sophia Aguirre, professor of economics, The Catholic University of America
• Jody Vaccaro Lewis, Assistant Professor of Sacred Scripture, Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies
• Professor Janet E. Smith, Father Michael J. McGivney Chair of Life Ethics, Sacred Heart Major Seminary
• Lorraine Gin, assistant professor of legal writing, legal writing administrator, James E. Rogers College of Law, The University of Arizona
• Molly Brigid Flynn, assistant professor of philosophy, Assumption College
• Louise Carroll Keeley, professor of philosophy, associate provost, Assumption College
• Jeanne Heffernan Schindler, assistant professor, Department of Humanities, Villanova University
• Angela McKay Knobel, associate professor, School of Philosophy, The Catholic University of America
• Mary C. Sommers, director, Center for Thomistic Studies, University of St. Thomas — Texas
• Judy Hutchinson, assistant director, Office of International Studies, University of Notre Dame
• Mary K. Daly, program coordinator, University Life Initiatives, Institute for Church Life, University of Notre Dame
• Diane C. Freeby, editor of PrayND, Notre Dame Alumni Association, University of Notre Dame
• Judy Madden, University of Notre Dame
• Beth Bubik, Life Initiatives Program coordinator, Notre Dame Alumni Association
• Sister Mary Sarah Galbraith, O.P., president, Aquinas College (Tenn.)
• Marianne Evans Mount, president, Catholic Distance University
• Donna Bethell, chairman of the board, Christendom College
• Nancy Matthews, former chancellor of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport
• Maggie Gallagher, Institute for Marriage and Public Policy
• Dorinda C. Bordlee, vice president, chief counsel, Bioethics Defense Fund
• Grace-Marie Turner, president, Galen Institute
• Helen Hull Hitchcock, president, Women for Faith & Family
• Elizabeth Kirk, University of Notre Dame Fund to Protect Human Life
• Kristina Arriaga, executive director, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
• Jennifer Roback Morse, founding president, the Ruth Institute
• Jennifer Bryson, director, Islam and Civil Society Project, the Witherspoon Institute
• Kate O’Beirne, president, National Review Institute
• Kelley M. Shrock, operations dpecialist, University of Notre Dame Investment Office
• Kimberly C. Shankman, Dean of the College, Benedictine College
• Asma Uddin, international legal fellow, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, editor-in-chief, AltMuslimah
• Ashley E. McGuire, Richard John Neuhaus Fellow, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty; Editor-in-Chief, AltCatholicah; Robert Novak Journalism Fellow, The Phillips Foundation
• Charmaine Yoest, president, Americans United for Life
• Mother Agnes Mary Donovan, SV, superior general, Sisters of Life
• Sister Joseph Marie Ruessmann, R.S.M., generalate secretary, Religious Sisters of Mercy — Alma, Mich.
• Sister Mary Christine Cremin, R.S.M., general counselor and local superior, Religious Sisters of Mercy, Knoxville, Tenn.
• Sister Mary Prudence Allen, R.S.M, local superior Denver/Edwards Convent of Mercy Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, OFM, cap.; Chair of Philosophy St. John Vianney Theological Seminary, Denver, Colo.
• Sister Mary Nika Schaumber, R.S.M., J.C.D., local superior, Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma, Mich.; Coordinator, Department of Religion, Saint Francis Health System, Tulsa, Okla.
• Sister Mary Patrice, R.S.M., Psy.D. candidate, Institute for Psychological Studies, Arlington, Va.
• Sister Barbara Anne Gooding, director, Department of Religion, Saint Francis Health System
• Sister Teresa Mary Kozlovski, R.S.M.
• Sister Deborah (Mary Cora) Uryase, R.S.M., assistant to the president-rector, Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, Saint Louis, Mo.
• Sister Mary Pierre Jean Wilson, R.S.M., J.C.D., assistant professor of canon law, St. John Vianney Theological Seminary, Denver, Colo.
• Sister Moira Debono, R.S.M., local superior, Religious Sisters of Mercy
• Sister Mary Judith O’Brien, R.S.M., member, Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma, Mich.; chancellor, Catholic Diocese of Saginaw, Mich.
• Sister Yvonne Mary Loucks, R.S.M., local superior, Saginaw, Mich.
• Paige C. Cunningham, executive director, the Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity
• Jean Bethke Elshtain, Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics in the Divinity School, Department of Political Science and the Committee on International Relations, the University of Chicago
• Tonia Hap Murphy, Mendoza Pre-Law Advisor, Associate Teaching Professor, University of Notre Dame