The fight over contraception access isn’t going especially well for Republicans, with polls showing the American mainstream consistently siding with the Obama administration on the issue. As the debate deteriorates, some have begun spinning wild tales to explain how and why this entire fiasco has been an elaborate Democratic setup.
Joan Walsh asked, “Did crafty Dems make contraception a campaign issue?” The answer, as Joan explained, is no.
Did you know the GOP doesn’t want to be talking about contraception? That it’s an issue ginned up by opportunistic Democrats? Rush Limbaugh made that case last week (while also insisting Republicans would win an election decided on culture war issues, so I’m not sure what his problem was). But Wednesday it made its way to the Washington Post’s women’s blog, in a piece by Melinda Henneberger headlined: “It’s Democrats who are putting focus on birth control.”
Limbaugh thinks this is part of a plot against Rick Santorum. Some on Fox News believe it’s a scheme hatched by liberals who hate the poor. A surprisingly large group of conservatives is convinced that ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos is tied to the conspiracy.
Let’s pause for a moment to note how we got to this point.
In August, the Obama administration announced some good news: thanks to the Affordable Care Act, and following the recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine, contraception would be covered by insurance plans as preventive care.
The health care reform law already requires insurers to cover “preventive health services” for free, but the announcement was part of a regulatory process that defines what those services will include. In January, administration officials said churches would be exempt, and in February, the White House tried to end the discussion altogether by saying religiously-affiliated employers wouldn’t have to pay directly for contraception coverage.









