Contraception Is The New Abortion

Sexy time!

With the Komentastrophe still ricocheting around the national echo chamber and Santorum's surge last night, I think it's time we looked, not at Roe v Wade, but Griswold v Connecticut.

First, let us note the current issue.  The ACA mandates that employers of a certain size offer their employees health insurance or they face death panels or something ("Corporations are people, my friend.").  The insurance must cover contraception.

The child molestation cover-up artists in the Catholic hierarchy are in a tizzy about this.  Because of an archaic understanding of procreation that arises from an aging group of alleged celibate men, the Catholic Church has decided that contraception is against God's Will.  Now, most religions believe some stupid stuff, but let's just let this decision by the world's largest Christian denomination sink in.  The Free Will that God endowed us with does not include the Free Will to decide when we have children.

The Church has relaxed a little bit on condom use, because of AIDS, but even then, it was like they were still arguing with Galileo.

Now, ACA does not require the Catholic Church to provide contraception to its clergy, although that would be hilarious.  Instead, it requires institutions like Notre Dame, Georgetown, St. Mary's Hospital where my children were born and other institutions to provide contraception coverage to their employees - many if not most of whom are not Catholic.

The Church considers this an abridgment of its religious liberty to deny non-Catholics who work for them of their right to family planning.  Or something.

So the Catholic political machine is coming out (read Pierce on the glorious hypocrisy at play) and attacking the Obama administration.  And we get the inevitable pieces about how the White House is going to cave.  And that usually means a compromise that finally gets the Administration what it wants at the end, but still.

In some ways, it looks like the White House is using Fabian tactics to put off the real fight over this until after the November ballot (this despite ample polling that shows lay Catholics don't give a damn what the alleged celibates say about contraception).

But they should be careful.  Women's health advocates have won an important scalp over the Komen thing.  They will happily engage both sides now that they have blood on their lips.  Women are pissed about the Komen thing, and the Obama team had better realize that suburban women are much more important to them than aged Catholic clergy and the cranky old men who love them.