Will McCain Also Define Contraception as Abortion?

Nancy Keenan

John McCain hasn't been able to give straight answers on birth control yet in his campaign. What would he say about proposed Bush regulations that could discourage doctors and health clinics from providing women with access to contraception?

Last week we learned how
questions about birth control cause John McCain’s so-called "Straight
Talk Express" to veer off track in a big way (watch this priceless-but-disturbing video clip for a first-hand look). Now, thanks to the Bush administration’s
proposed regulations
that could discourage doctors and health clinics from providing women
with access to contraception, birth control is back in the picture — and
that’s not good news for McCain. The Straight Talk Express is going
to hit a few more bumps. 

The fundamental question
for McCain is whether he thinks birth control programs should cover
birth control.  

Do we seriously have to ask
this question in 2008? Yes, yes, we do. Let’s remember we are talking
about someone who voted against family planning twenty-two times.   

Here are just four examples
of how the Bush regulations could affect women’s access to contraception: 

  • This regulation
    could affect good state laws that require hospitals to provide emergency
    contraception to rape victims.

  • The regulation
    could undermine laws that ensure pharmacies fill women’s prescriptions
    for birth control. (The Straight Talk Express should stop by
    some pharmacy counters and ask women what they think about this one.
    I’m just making the suggestion.)

  • The proposal could
    allow health-care corporations (hospitals, HMOs, and health plans) to
    refuse to provide services or make referrals not only for abortion but
    also for birth control.

  • Twenty seven states
    have laws requiring health-care plans to cover contraception on an equal
    basis with other prescription medications. This draft regulation could
    threaten that guarantee, on which millions of women rely for their birth
    control.

We are eager to hear McCain
answer questions about each provision. Wait, I know, perhaps he could
refer this matter to Carly Fiorina. She should be up to speed on McCain’s
record since we shared it with
her last week.
(And, no, she has not sent a thank-you note.) 

Phil Gramm can weigh in,
too. I am sure there is enough "straight talk" to go around.  

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