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The Activist Beat with Rose Aguilar, host of Your Call on KALW in San Francisco is a weekly roundup of progressive activism that the mainstream media ignores, undercovers, or misrepresents.

An estimated 5,000 people gathered at the state capitol in Lansing, Michigan on Monday chanting: Vagina. Vagina.

In a video news piece, the Lansing City Pulse led with the words: Vaginas take over the Capitol.

Women and men held signs saying ‘My Vagina is Angry’ and ‘Team Vagina’ to support Michigan Representative Lisa Brown after she was banned from speaking on the House floor for saying “vagina” during a debate about one of the most restrictive anti-choice laws in the country.

During her speech last Wednesday, she said, “Finally, Mr. Speaker, I’m flattered that you’re all so interested in my vagina, but ‘no’ means ‘no.’”

The next day, House Republicans refused to allow the her to express her views on a school employee retirement bill. They silenced her on the final day of the legislative session before summer break.

State Representative Mike Callton, a husband, father, and practicing chiropractor, told the Detroit News that the vagina comment was offensive. He said, “It was so offensive, I don’t even want to say it in front of women. I would not say that in mixed company.”

It gets worse.

During a recent television interview, Representative Mike Shirkey proudly said, “Until we completely eliminate abortions in Michigan and completely defund Planned Parenthood, we have work to do.”

Make no mistake. That is the ultimate goal of the extremists in statehouses across the country.

The vagina war in Michigan got national attention, but several important details were missing from the coverage. According to the Guardian, representatives from Planned Parenthood were “not allowed” to testify about the new law. Detroit News columnist Laura Berman reports that although a few men were allowed to testify against the bill, not one female opposition voice was heard. Not one woman.

Last week, 200 Planned Parenthood supporters gathered at the Capitol to protest the legislation, which would require a doctor or assistant to perform a screening before an abortion to ensure the patient isn’t being coerced. It would also ban abortions after 20 weeks and those are rare.

The vote in the House was 70-39. It got support from every Republican and six Democrats.

State Representative Barb Byrum introduced an amendment that would prohibit vasectomies for men unless they have proof of a medical emergency or a life-threatening condition. She was also silenced.

Representatives Brown, Byrum, and their colleagues responded to the forced silence by performing “The Vagina Monologues” on the capitol steps on Monday. Representative Brown said, “We shouldn’t be legislating vaginas if you can’t say vagina.”

The play’s creator, Eve Ensler, showed up saying, no one can put the genie back in the bottle. The vaginas are out and we are here to stay.

After the rally, Representative Brown tweeted: Words cannot express how amazing this event was. Thank you all for coming out tonight. Remember, V stands for victory, voice, and vagina.

I’m Rose Aguilar for Uprising.