Greg Sargent writes The Plum Line blog for the Washington Post. GREG SARGENT | COMMENTARY ADVERTISING Political commentary about the fight over birth control has focused on the likely impact among female and Catholic swing voters in the presidential election.
GREG SARGENT | COMMENTARY
Political commentary about the fight over birth control has focused on the likely impact among female and Catholic swing voters in the presidential election. But knowing that contraception has come up in a number of close Senate contests, Democrats plan to push GOP candidates on whether they support an amendment put forward by Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., that would allow insurers and employers to deny coverage of health services they find morally objectionable. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has said that he expects to hold a vote on the Blunt amendment today.
Tellingly, some Democrats have begun calling this the Blunt-Brown amendment, hoping to hang it around the neck of Sen. Scott Brown, R. He faces a stiff challenge from populist Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts, where contraception has become a major issue.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee noted in a statement Tuesday that “divisive Republican attacks against women are boomeranging, forcing Republican Senate candidates like (Scott) Brown, (George) Allen, Dennis Rehberg, Dean Heller and Josh Mandel to run for the hills, rather than explain why they are championing measures like the Blu.n Amendment that would block access to basic health care services for women.”
Democrats hope to press social issues in Virginia, where Allen has embraced the “personhood” amendment; in Ohio, where Mandel has supported a “heartbeat” bill that bans abortions once a heartbeat can be detected; and in Nevada, where Sen. Dean Heller has taken heat for voting to defund Planned Parenthood.
Republicans insist the issue will play in their favor in some states, including North Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri and Montana, Rehberg’s state, and they hope they can win the argument if it is framed to show Democrats want to expand government’s reach into matters of faith.
A National Journal poll out this week found that Americans lean toward President Barack Obama’s plan for insurance companies to fund contraception for workers at religiously affiliated employers, 49 percent to 40 percent, and a plurality opposes an amendment such as the Blunt legislation, 44 percent to 40 percent. It also found that 69 percent opposed defunding Planned Parenthood. And there are no indications yet that the public will see these issues through the GOP’s preferred frame.
Greg Sargent writes The Plum Line blog for the Washington Post.
