GOP takes a step back with women

Opinion: March 9, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

Last January, ABC’s George Stephanopoulos baffled Mitt Romney when he asked the Republican presidential hopeful in a televised debate if states have the right to ban contraception.

“George, this is an unusual topic that you’re raising,” the former Massachusetts governor replied. “I can’t imagine that states would want to ban contraception.” When Stephanopoulos persisted, Romney said, “I know of no reason to talk about contraceptions. ... Contraception, it’s working just fine.”

That was then. But now, Rick Santorum’s denunciation of contraception and a misguided Republican effort to capitalize on President Barack Obama’s fumbling of the guidelines for his health-reform law have raised the subject to the center of the political debate.

Calling the tune

It’s strengthened the belief that GOP conservatives like Rush Limbaugh call the tune in the party, even to the point of making the front-runner dance to it. And it showed why respected moderate Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe no longer sees a viable role in a party whose members are increasingly pressured to do that.

To be fair, the GOP effort started as a move to take political advantage of a legitimate issue: how far can government go in establishing rules affecting religious organizations? At issue was the Obama administration’s health law requirement that insurers cover preventive services including contraceptive drugs and devices.

Churches and other houses of worship are exempt. And the administration backed off from including church-affiliated schools, hospitals and charities after protests from religious groups, saying their female employees could get coverage directly from insurance companies.

Many Republicans complained the administration was trying to curb the First Amendment rights of religious groups. Sens. Roy Blunt of Missouri and Marco Rubio of Florida introduced a proposal to let employers refuse to pay for any coverage that was “contrary to the religious beliefs or moral convictions of the sponsor, issuer or other entity offering the plan.”

That’s so broad any employer could cite “moral” objections and ban contraception coverage.

And it initially seemed to baffle Romney, who has often seemed uncomfortable discussing these issues. His problems this time started when an Ohio radio interviewer, Jim Heath, asked if he had taken a position on “Blunt-Rubio,” which he said “deals with banning or allowing employers to ban providing female contraception.”

“I’m not for the bill,” Romney replied, giving what many believe is his true position. When it comes to questions of contraception, he added, “I’m not going there.”

Aides afraid of antagonizing conservatives quickly backtracked, saying Romney did, in fact, back the bill and alleging Heath’s question was “confusing.” Later, appearing on Howie Carr’s Boston-based radio show, Romney followed suit, saying, “Of course I support the Blunt amendment.”

Senate Republicans also fell in line. All but one voted for it, including moderates Scott Brown of Massachusetts and Susan Collins of Maine.

Centrists

The exception was Snowe, one of a diminishing number of centrists who used to help the Senate resolve difficult issues. The Maine senator also announced she won’t run again, citing the “polarizing environment” and adding she saw no hope of it improving in the next six years.

The whole Republican exercise seemed unwise politically. Polls show the GOP already has a substantial deficit among women voters who, by a 2-to-1 majority, favor the federal requirement that health insurance plans cover contraceptive devices and drugs.

But its problems worsened when conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh went off on a rant calling Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke “a slut” for advocating inclusion of contraception in medical insurance plans.

Democratic and women’s groups promptly denounced Limbaugh and the GOP. Some of his sponsors demanded an apology, which he belatedly gave, and an increasing number have suspended their sponsorship.

While some Republicans like John McCain criticized Limbaugh, the top 2012 candidates pulled their punches.

“He’s being absurd, but that’s you know, an entertainer can be absurd,” Santorum said on CNN.

Conservative commentator George Will put the matter into pithy perspective. “They want to bomb Iran, but they’re afraid of Rush Limbaugh,” he said on ABC’s “This Week.”

That’s not going to help them narrow the Democratic advantage with women.

Carl P. Leubsdorf is the former Washington bureau chief of the Dallas Morning News. Distributed by MCT Information Services.