More on the contraception brouhaha

[randy_byers]

Fascinating backgrounder on the politics around birth control going back to the FDR administration. What's most fascinating to me is that the recent Komen misstep and now the war around the birth control provisions in the ACA seem to be a signal that supporters of reproductive rights are starting to push back against the conservatives in effective ways. I suppose it's no accident, then, that I recently felt compelled to start donating ten bucks a month to Planned Parenthood. It feels like this is an issue that could blast a hole in the Republican coalition. Oh yeah, and improve people's lives, too.

Comments

[daveon.livejournal.com]

This does feel like a 'reverse' wedge issue and looking at the speed at which the poll numbers have started to shift, especially with women and independents, it's working.

Jon Stewart really nailed it on Monday night where he showed a panel on contraception that Sean Hanity put together which was basically middle-aged white guys. As he said, 'nice and representative of the core market and users for female reproductive rights...'

It's a daft issue that just will keep hitting them.

Interestingly, the complete cave on the payroll tax looks like the GOP are now getting nervous about their position. I suspect a lot of the congress are now looking at their seats, the total shower that is the presidential bid and a resurgent Obama and looking at the bigger picture.

We just need the Tea Party to refuse to go along and they should be ready to break in half.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

I still haven't read any reporting on how the Tea Party was convinced to go along with the extension of the payroll taxcut (*and* unemployment benefits). Maybe they can smell the wind shifting too, or have they been mollified by the war on contraception?

[daveon.livejournal.com]

To be fair I haven't yet heard if they have agreed to go along :)

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Sounds like negotiations are ongoing, but everybody seems to think it will get done. We'll see.

[janetl.livejournal.com]

I am (sadly) used to the constant push-back on access to abortion, but this attack on contraception pushed every button I have. I'm gobsmacked that mainstream Republicans have gone along with the nutso bishops. I know that they get fewer votes from women, but did they really not understand that contraception is fundamental for virtually all women? Are there no women in roles as aids or advisors to these old white guys?

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

It really is mind-blowing that they stepped into this buzz-saw with their eyes wide open. Well, people have been throwing around the term "epistemic closure" for the past few years. There are none so blind ...

[wrdnrd]

Twitter summed it up best: "I like that birth control is a political issue this year because it means the year is 1964 and the Beatles are about to get huge." (EricDSnider)

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Ha! The fact that Griswold v. Connecticut happened within my lifetime doesn't compute in certain ways. I guess it's like how the Berlin Wall seemed like it had always been there, even though it was built after I was born.

[janetl.livejournal.com]

The article you linked to is good, but I found it depressing to see how we've moved backwards over time.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

How so? It takes us from a time when birth control was illegal up to the threshold of an era when we'll have universal insurance coverage for contraceptives. I'm not sure I see the backward movement there. Or are you talking about abortion rights? In which case I'd agree.