GOP: No Right To Family Planning Choices

Many people do not remember that the purchase and use of birth control products or literature about birth control options, even by married couples, was against the law in many states until 1965. There are those who, for the last 46 years, have worked to reverse the 1965 Griswold v. Connecticut Supreme Court finding that Americans have a fundamental right of privacy. That right includes making family planning decisions and the right to learn about and use birth control contraceptives.

During an ABC interview with Jake Tapper presidential candidate Rick Santorum said that premarital sex should be outlawed, that women have no right to accessible reproductive health care, that contraceptives should be illegal and that states can outlaw the sale, purchase and use of contraceptives.

“The state has a right to do that, I have never questioned that the state has a right to do that. It is not a constitutional right, the state has the right to pass whatever statutes they have. That is the thing I have said about the activism of the Supreme Court, they are creating right, and they should be left up to the people to decide.”

Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney and nearly all the other GOP presidential candidates have committed to a "personhood" constitutional amendment that would outlaw most common contraceptive choices available to women. Mother Jones reports that Republicans in the U.S. Congress also want to pass a federal Personhood Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Cecile Richards had a great discussion with Rachel Maddow on the latest from the Republican field. It is unbelievable that these candidates are campaigning on a platform that is so anti-women’s health, they're even going after something as mainstream as birth control.

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When 99% of women will use birth control in their lifetime, it just shows how out of touch Republicans are on the priorities of women voters.

The contrast between Democrats and Republicans has become stark in this election year.

The Obama administration last announced last summer a rule that most employers must cover FDA-approved contraceptives as part of health insurance plans that cover preventive health services for free. The rule, which requires private insurance not merely to include birth control, but to do so without out-of-pocket charges, will take effect beginning Aug. 1, 2012 as plans renew.

From the beginning, the rule exempted employers such as churches whose primary purpose is to inculcate religious beliefs and that mainly employ and serve individuals who share those beliefs. Religious advocates argued that this definition was too narrow, excluding a wide range of church-affiliated universities, hospitals and schools. (see The Men Behind The War On Women) Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced Friday that the wider range of religious organizations, who provide its employees with health insurance coverage, have an additional year to comply.

• Rick Santorum Doubles Down, Says States Have Right To Declare Birth Control Illegal (VIDEO)