The Obama administration announced plans to force Catholic schools, hospitals, and other church-affiliated organizations to subsidize sterilization, abortifacients, and contraceptives in their health insurance plans. Bizarrely, this is causing the media to wonder if the exact opposite is happening. Time.com posted this odd headline on Monday: "Birth Control: Could It Be Illegal Again?"
On Thursday, NPR talk show host Diane Rehm echoed that science-fiction question: "Are we creeping towards a wiping out of the availability of birth control?" NPR health correspondent Julie Rovner replied "I'm not sure I would say that." Because it's not exactly supported by any present facts?
The mere questioning of artificial contraception as anything less than the greatest invention ever given to mankind apparently causes grave concern. Rehm guest Judy Waxman of the liberal National Women's Law Center declared "Contraceptives have been declared by the CDC, the Centers for Disease Control, as one of the 10 major public health achievements of the 20th century."
Rehm asked Waxman, "Is there some sort of plan here to define, as Mark has said, life beginning at conception and, therefore, a denial of birth control methods to prevent conception?"
Right before Rehm's wacky "creeping ban" question, guest Mark Rienzi of Catholic University warmly congratulated the Susan G. Komen foundation for (very temporarily) removing some funding for Planned Parenthood.
For his part, Cohen displayed the classic Phil Donahue liberal position, refusing to believe we haven't all bowed before the liberal position yet: "It is 2012: Are we still fighting over condoms and the pill? In fact, we are. The score so far: both supporters and opponents of birth control can point to some significant wins, and neither side shows any sign of backing down." As usual, it was "conservatives" versus nonpartisans:
The well-publicized conservative campaign to defund Planned Parenthood has been about birth control as well as abortion. As one New Hampshire lawmaker said of his vote to stop funding: “I am opposed to providing condoms to someone. If you want to have a party, have a party, but don’t ask me to pay for it.”
