A surge of outrage swept the internet yesterday over two female Michigan legislators who were banned from the floor of the House for saying the word “vagina” in a debate over one of the worst abortion laws in the country.

Then, in an effort to clarify, a spokesman for the Michigan GOP Leader of the House only made things worse. In a letter to press, he simultaneously did not deny that the women were banned for saying “vagina” and further accused the two of throwing “temper tantrums.”

The letter reads:

Just to be clear, despite the misinformation being spread by Reps. Brown and Byrum, and Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, there are two representatives not being recognized on the House floor today because of their actions yesterday. It has nothing to do with their gender, their religion or the topic they were discussing. All day today, we have had representatives of both parties, both genders and several different religions passionately debating important issues that will significantly impact the future of Michigan. I would urge you not to become too distracted by temper tantrums designed to score political points.

The term ‘temper tantrum’ is not-so-subtly coded sexist language leveled at women to infantilize them and de-legitimize their points. In an attempt at clarification, the spokesman only reaffirmed that the Michigan House GOP’s position was not only against saying the word ‘vagina,’ but also against letting women talk seriously about political issues.

Insurance giant Aetna was one of the companies publicly amenable to President Obama’s health care reform law while it was being debated. In fact, just recently the company’s CEO praised the law. And just last week, the group announced that they’d keep some provisions in place even if the law gets repealed by the Supreme Court.

But, it turns out, Aetna wasn’t always such a staunch supporter of the Affordable Care Act (ACA): During the debate over the bill, the insurance company gave over $7 million to two groups fighting tooth and nail against the legislation.

Aetna did not intentionally reveal their donations to the two organizations — the Chamber of Commerce and the American Action Network — intentionally. Rather, it was a slip in how they filed their disclosure forms:

Documents obtained and distributed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington show that Aetna made a $3 million donation to the American Action Network and a $4.05 million donation to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 2011.

Aetna made the disclosure in a year-end regulatory filing with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, an organization that sets insurance industry standards and provides regulatory support. [...]

“I think Aetna screwed up. I don’t think they needed to disclose this,” said Melanie Sloan, the executive director of CREW, an advocacy group that opposes corporate political spending.

Aetna provided CNNMoney with a letter from CEO Mark Bertolini that acknowledged donations to the groups, but claimed the funds were meant for educational purposes.

While Aetna may claim it used the money for educational purposes, there are certainly reasons to believe the group would have fought against certain provisions in the law. Insurance groups have a stake in changing taxes for their industry, raising rates on young people, and opening up exchange pools to private business. These provisions easily could have been the target of money donated to anti-ACA groups by insurers.