Plumline: Don’t be fooled by new GOP enthusiasm for over-the-counter birth control

[flpoljunkie]

Emphasis mine

Don’t be fooled by new GOP enthusiasm for over-the-counter birth control

By Paul Waldman September 8 at 12:14 PM

The hot new trend among Republican candidates is a surprising one, to say the least. As of now there are four GOP Senate contenders who have endorsed making birth control pills available over the counter.

All four — Cory Gardner in Colorado, Thom Tillis in North Carolina, Ed Gillespie in Virginia, and Mike McFadden in Minnesota — oppose abortion rights, and all four oppose the Affordable Care Act’s mandate that insurance policies pay for preventative care, including birth control, with no deductibles or co-pays. Yet these conservative Republicans are touting their deep commitment to easily available birth control. It’s likely that more Republicans will now be asked their position on OTC birth control, and some will embrace it to counter Dem criticism that they’re soldiers in a “war on women.”

The new-found embrace of OTC birth control pills might seem odd, even bizarre. But it makes more sense if you think about it as a fundamentally elitist position. The truth is that conservatives have long been much more concerned with restricting the reproductive choices available to poor and middle class women, while leaving wealthy women free to do pretty much as they please. And allowing birth control pills to be sold over the counter is perfectly in line with that history.

Let’s be clear that making birth control pills available over the counter would be a good thing — but only if insurance continued to pay for it. The cost of the pill can be as much as $600 a year, which is out of reach for many women. And we know that insurance companies seldom reimburse customers for OTC medications. The price of the medication might come down over time if it were sold over the counter, but in the meantime millions of women are dependent on their insurance plans to be able to afford it. By opposing the ACA, all these GOP candidates are putting themselves on record in opposition to requiring insurance companies to pay for any birth control in policies women themselves have bought. And that’s not to mention other forms of contraception, like IUDs, that require a doctor’s care and come with a significant up-front cost.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/09/08/dont-be-fooled-by-new-gop-enthusiasm-for-over-the-counter-birth-control/

[Cartoonist]

1. Who's fooled?

Having never seen an honest republican since Eisenhower, I always suspect ulterior motives.

[Myrina]

2. I figured it was because they're all major pharma stockholders ...

.... gotta pump up those dividends ....

[MisterP]

3. it's the fundies vs. the corporatists and Koch-liberts on this one