Why won't Bush say he supports birth control?

By BARBARA MINER
KNIGHT RIDDER TRIBUNE
The right to birth control is under attack, and President Bush won't defend it.
The president's silence on birth control is so deafening that 32 members of Congress wrote a letter to Bush on Oct. 24 saying, "It is important that we know where you stand on access to birth control; 95 percent of American women use birth control at some point in their lives, but for the first time in decades access to birth control is in doubt."
It was the third such letter since July. So far, there's been no response.
The anti-abortion movement is increasingly morphing into an anti-birth-control movement, and the Bush administration appears right by its side.
One recent example: Top federal drug officials decided to reject over-the-counter sale of an emergency contraceptive even before the application review was finished, according to a Nov. 14 Government Accountability Office report.
Political decision
In other words, top FDA officials had made up their minds politically, so they saw no need to review scientific evidence or respect the overwhelming consensus in the medical community advocating over-the-counter status.
White House press secretary Scott McClellan has been asked on three occasions, dating back to May, about Bush's views on birth control. The following exchange, from the White House transcript for the May 26 briefing, is typical of McClellan's response:
Question: You know, but what I asked, is he opposed -- he's not opposed to contraception, is he?
McClellan: Well, and you've made your views known, as well. The president--
Question: No, no, but is he opposed to contraception, Scott? Could you just tell us yes or no?
McClellan: Les, I think that this question is--
Question: Well, is he? Does he oppose contraception?
McClellan: Les, I think the president's views are very clear when it comes to building a culture of life--
Question: If they were clear, I wouldn't have asked.
McClellan: --and if you want to ask those questions, that's fine. I'm just not going to dignify them with a response.
Right to privacy
For 40 years, birth control has been a part of the right to privacy in this country. In 1965 in the Griswold v. Connecticut case, the U.S. Supreme Court made it legal for married couples to use birth control. This decision then opened up privacy to encompass birth control for unmarried people, as well as abortion.
That the president will not affirm this right shows just how far back he wants to turn the clock.
X Barbara Miner is a writer for Progressive Media Project, a source of liberal commentary on domestic and international issues; it is affiliated with The Progressive magazine. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.