If you have watched the Rachel Maddow show this week (and I think I am on safe ground here when I think that most of you have), you have seen her nail this issue on coverage of contraceptives that seems to have so many other (male) pundits in a tizzy.
She is right and they are wrong. She gets it.
First of all, she has stated that more than half of the states in this country already cover contreceptives.
She also pointed out earlier this week how trying to outlaw contraception (which is the ultimate goal of conservatives, especially Catholic male conservatives) has been soundly defeated, in some places by as much as 40 points.
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This week, we have found out that abortions are at their lowest level since Roe v. Wade was implemented. The study found that the biggest reason why was birth control.
"Teens are also using more effective forms of contraception," said Kathryn Kost, a demographer with the Guttmacher Institute who co-authored the analysis.
Teen pregnancy, abortion rates at record low, study says Reuters, Feb. 8, 2012
We are also finding that college kids are having issues with
this.
Students At Catholic Colleges Protest Lack Of Access To Birth Control
Huffington Post, Feb. 9, 2012
That's right. College kids. You know, the ones people say that the President needs in order to win re-election? People whose hormones and libidos are constantly in 5th gear? You want to talk about getting people emotional? Just tell a bunch of college women that it's going to be a lot harder to get birth control. Guess what they might be telling the guys? Guess what the guys are going to think?
This is an easy argument to make. This is an easy argument to tie to the Personhood amendments that Rachel has shown to be really bad politics for the Republican Party. Conservatives and Catholic bishops want to rid the entire country of birth control, not just leave it to the states to decide if you can get it for free or not. This rule makes it easier to get birth control. They don't want that. They want to make it as hard as they can to get this stuff and many of them want to ban birth control altogether. That is the real reason. This is why Ben Franklin cut out any mention of God in the Constitution of the United States.
Vice President Joe Biden doesn't seem to be listening. We need to help him understand.
“As a practicing Catholic, I am of the view that this can be worked out and should be worked out. And I know the president feels the same way,” Biden said.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/...
A question I will be asking him today is this:
So, John Kennedy (as the nation's first Catholic president) said he wouldn't be run by the Catholic Church and you (as the first Catholic Vice President) have just decided to do their bidding? Is that right?
Feel free to use this, reword it to whatever you like.
Ooh, here's another one.
If you are letting Catholic bishops dictate your decisions, resign. There is a Secretary of State that can more than fill your shoes. And hers will look better.
www.whitehouse.gov. Ask for Joe.
The Republicans love wedge issues. This is what they do best nowadays. They don't seem to be concerned with trivial things like jobs programs or debating the payroll tax cut or the size of our military. They chose this one. And you wonder why their approval rating is now 10%. I know, they don't own all of Congress, just most of it.
Here's the headline: "Socialism, Paris Hilton More Popular Than Congress" You can't make this stuff up.
The media (except for Rachel) has genuflected to them because they suddenly say this is "good strategy" on the conservatives' part, but the reality is that they love the political gamesmanship. Things were going too well for the president lately. It was getting boring.
By the way, most of these commentators are male and some of them are male Catholics.
The reality is that a lot of Catholic women do not get abortions, but 98% of Catholic women have used birth control, and, yes, some of that is prescription birth control. The Republicans think that this is a winning issue with them. Rachel disagrees.
What Rachel is saying (and her comrade Chris Matthews, another male Catholic, is not) is that women don't like people telling them what birth control they should use or not to use it. Women don't like getting raped and being told "Just think of what a beautiful life you could be bringing into the world." instead of getting the morning after pill, immediately. Women don't like hearing those fateful words from their teenage daughter, "Mom, I think I'm pregnant."
And women vote.
Face it, you can't have an abortion if you don't get pregnant.
In the interest of full disclosure, I am a male, non-Catholic and I totally agree with Rachel on this issue.