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Clinton raises women's rights in Democratic debate

Though there were no explicit questions about reproductive rights or women's rights, but Clinton did her best to bring it up
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at the NBC, YouTube Democratic presidential debate at the Gaillard Center, January 17, 2016, in Charleston, S.C.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at the NBC, YouTube Democratic presidential debate at the Gaillard Center, January 17, 2016, in Charleston, S.C.

There were no explicit questions about women’s rights in the fourth Democratic debate Sunday night, but the candidates, particularly Hillary Clinton, did what they could to insert them into the conversation anyway. 

Asked about her agenda for her first 100 days in office, Clinton made sure to add, “guaranteeing, finally, equal pay for women's work,” to big applause. While defending her agenda on health care, the Democratic front-runner mentioned that a benefit of the Affordable Care Act is that "we have seen women no longer paying more for our insurance than men." 

She wasn't the only one. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley mentioned " equal pay for equal work," and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said, "The pay equity for women, the American people want it."  

But the fact that there were no explicit questions about abortion rights, and that there have been none in the Democratic debate to date, rankled some activists on Twitter.