The Democrats took a non-issue–contraception–and turned it into cynical “war on women” demagoguery in 2012.
Similarly, Obamacarians used birth control pills as a bludgeon to undermine religious liberty with the contraception mandate, which they seek to impose on religious groups and business owners that see birth control as a sin,
But what would happen if birth control pills were available over-the-counter? Planned Parenthood supports that course, and now, in response to being accused falsely of trying to keep women from taking birth control pills, some Republicans think the time has come. From a Washington D.C. Examiner column by Byron York:
The most intense debate over the idea has taken place in Colorado, where Gardner unveiled a birth control TV commercial last week. “What’s the difference between me and Mark Udall on contraception?” Gardner asked in the ad. “I believe the pill ought to be available over the counter, round the clock, without a prescription — cheaper and easier, for you.” Udall, Gardner said, would “keep government bureaucrats between you and your healthcare plan,” resulting in “more politics, and more profits for drug companies.”
It seems to me that Republicans are responding to cynicism with cynicism. But that’s politics, I guess.
The question should not be based on politics, but safety. On that question, I have no opinion.
I do believe that over-the-counter birth control–if ever approved–should be behind the pharmacist’s counter for adults only to prevent minors from taking a powerful drug without parental knowledge. (I know, I am old fashioned that way.)
The Republicans are on to one thing from a political perspective: Over-the-counter birth control pills would no longer be covered by Obamacare. That, in turn, would prevent the present government from using contraception as a means to attack religious liberty, rally the secularists’ vote against “the theocracy,” and use the specter of unavailable birth control to scare single women to the polls.
And that is precisely why the Obama FDA will never approve over-the-counter birth control pills. The good politics–from the administration’s perspective–trump science and proper public policy.
Yes, I believe Obamacarians are that radical and the president that demagogic.