Republicans have a terrible record with women these days. They know it, and the general public knows it. They lost big with women in 2012, and a poll recently conducted by their own conservative side of things reveals that women largely see Republicans as “intolerant” and “stuck in the past.” The poll goes on to say that women are “barely receptive” to GOP talking points. In response to this, GOP lawmakers have been trying to turn their misogynist image around, even going so far as to attend classes on how to make their policies seem less anti-woman. Well, obviously, that didn’t work. So, they have a new tactic. They’ll try to trick us into thinking they are in favor of easier access to contraception by supporting over-the- counter contraception.
Think Progress?reports that GOP Senate candidate Thom Tillis of North Carolina has followed in the footsteps of fellow GOPers?Rep. Cory Gardner (R-CO) and??Ed Gillespie (R-VA)?by endorsing over-the-counter access to birth control in a debate on Wednesday night. Now, on the surface, this might seem as if Tillis supports expanded birth control access. However, this seems to not be the case. When the moderator, obviously skeptical about the GOP 180 on women’s health, asked Tillis if he thought companies should provide access to contraception regardless of religious beliefs, Tillis said that the Hobby Lobby decision was “not about contraception” and pushed ahead with the OTC birth control angle.
This is a huge red flag. While the GOP wants us to think that they are coming around on issues of women’s ?health, they aren’t. What would OTC birth control access mean? Well, a few things. It would mean that insurance would not have to cover it, because it is over the counter. The provisions in the Affordable Care Act cover prescriptions on. Having birth control available over the counter would mean that women have to pay out of pocket for it. Further, it would mean limited access to more effective internal methods, such as IUDs, which, of course, have to be done in a doctor’s office. This would open the door to companies refusing to cover internal methods at all, thus restricting access not only to those who can afford to pay out of pocket for OTC pills, but also restricting options to contraceptives that can be purchased over the counter in a pharmacy in pill form. So, in short, this would mean?less?access to birth control.
Tillis, however, addressed none of this in his statements on the matter. He simply said:
“I actually agree with the American Medical Association ? we should make contraception more widely available,? he said. ?I think over-the-counter oral contraception should be available without a prescription. If you do those kinds of things it will actually increase the access and reduce the barriers for having more options for women for contraception.”
Considering that Tillis addressed none of the aforementioned concerns, I think we can safely say that he has very little understanding of the consequences for women who either cannot take oral contraceptives or cannot afford to pay for them out of pocket should the GOP’s suggestions become law. Either that, or he doesn’t care.
Doctors are not altogether on board with what the GOP is suggesting, either. Dr. Nancy Stanwood, OB-GYN and chair for the board of Physicians for Reproductive Health, had this to say:
?We certainly welcome new partners who are genuinely interested in expanding women’s health.”
Stanwood went on to elaborate:
?If birth control goes over the counter without covering it, that actually hurts access.?
Hurting access is likely what these Republican men are looking to do in pushing this OTC angle for contraception. They want to erase their terribly misogynist voting records, while continuing their war on women through underhanded tactics. Melissa Reed of the Planned Parenthood Health Systems Action Fund put it best:
?If Thom Tillis and others were serious about expanding access to birth control, they wouldn’t be trying to repeal the no-copay birth control benefit or cut women off from Planned Parenthood’s preventive health services.?This is simply a cynical political attempt to whitewash his terrible record and agenda for women’s health.”
Ms. Reed is right on the money. In fact, when Tillis was NC’s Speaker of the House, some of the most extremist restrictions on birth control and abortion in the country were passed, including a provision that was later struck down that required women seeking abortions to view ultrasounds of their fetuses first. No wonder he is trying to get in good with women. There is an election coming up. Hopefully, women will be smart enough to see through what he and his GOP cohorts are doing, and vote the other way.
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