Contraception mandate sparks 2012 culture war
>> we begin with an issue that's front and center on the campaign trail and in washington today. with the economy improving the president's poll numbers rising and his supposedly inevitable opponents struggling, republicans have opened a broadside from inside the beltway. it is a direct attack on the president's health care initiative requiring all hospitals including those with religious affiliations to provide contraception. a fairly popular move according to the polls unless, of course, you're john boehner .
>> in imposing this requirement, the federal government has drifted dangerously beyond its constitution it will boundaries. this attack by the federal government on religious freedom in our country must not stand and will not stand.
>> and not to be outdone, just a short time later, senate gop leaders excode those sentiments going so far as to say the extra time the president is giving religious organizations to come apply is a slap in the face .
>> that may actually be almost the most offensive part of this whole idea. the religious institutions you have to do things that are contrary to your faith principles and by the way, we're going to give you a year to figure out how to accommodate that change in your faith principles.
>> but today's award for golden hyperbole may wrong in rick santorum . he addressed the contraception decision but saved his best ammunition for a court decision allowing gay people to marry in california. and according to rick, that is an act of intolerance. yes, gay marriage is a form of intolerance against who? conservatives, of course. snoorls irrational hatred and bigotry toward a group of people is the only reason you could possibly be for marriage between a man and a woman. now, where is the tolerance in that? it is the most intolerant, just like we saw from the days of the atheists in the soviet union .
>> wow. the soviet union . well, the white house responded via press chief jay carney .
>> but let's be clear, we are committed, the president is committed to insuring that women have access to contraception without paying any extra costs no matter where they work.
>> these are hot issues that have always been on the back burner but today, well, they just exploded. joining us, democratic congresswoman barbara lee of california. good afternoon.
>> good afternoon, martin.
>> is the speaker making this rare promise of new legislation because you've wrapped up work on the payroll tax cut extension? you've wrapped up the issue of unemployment insurance and medicare doc fix and we can now move on to other business?
>> let me say the republicans and the tea party , of course, have a way of trying to shift the debate away from what is really important and that's creating jobs and turning the economy around. i just have to say, as it relates to this latest rule and what they're doing in terms of politicizing women 's contraceptive, access to contraception and health care , you know, martin, i was raised a catholic . i was a practicing devout catholic . i understand very clearly the tenets of the catholic church and, of course, i respectfully disagree but i respect religious beliefs and freedoms. i also respect the separation of church and state . this latest ruling really is very important for women 's access to contraception. i just want to lay out the fakes for just a minute. what it does is it provides access for women , for example, a woman who is working in the cafeteria of a catholic hospital, she may or may not want access to contraception. this allows her that access. what it does not do is tamper with the 335,000 religious organizations that have already been exempt. and in fact, martin in, 28 states now, we have these exemptions which provide for coverage if women decide to choose this is type of contraceptive coverage for half of the women in the united states . and so the facts have been distort distorted. i think the president made the correct decision. we have to keep the separation of church and state as central and we have to acknowledge the religious beliefs of all. but this in no way requires a catholic , doctor, exto write a prescription. it does not require any health care worker to go against their religious beliefs .
>> we know mitt romney is struggling to win over the conservative faithful. is there not something shameless about a man who is governor, accepted a very similar law on contraception and in 2005 , he even asked the massachusetts department of health to stish regulations requiring all hospitals, including catholic hospitals, to issue emergency contraception to rape victims? but now he says he's distressed to see the president attacking religious freedom . the only question i have for you is, really?
>> the president is not attacking religious freedoms. i think that the longer the republican primaries continue, the more people will begin to understand the backgrounds of some of these candidates and what they say and what they do. they really will begin to see that we have to re-elect president obama if in fact, we're going to move forward and make sure that women and everyone have axis to affordable and accessible health care . i think that --
>> there also seems to be a very real conflict here between principle and practice because according to one measure, 52% of catholics actually agree with the health care law and in practice, 68% of catholics are using birth control. so if the principle is so utterly important, why is there such a divergence in terms of practice? i mean, we fight the law even though we live according to it.
>> well, as i said, many -- and again, i am a former catholic . so i understand thosedy lem maz. however the catholic bishops have really made a strong push to try to make sure that this became a political issue. yes, you're right. the statistics show that the majority of catholic women do use contraception. the point is, women should have a right to decide whether or not they want to use contraception or not. and that's the issue. i think by coming forthing with this rule now, all women regardless of their income, regardless of where they work, will have access to contraceptive services if they want it.
>> even though speaker boehner and i'm quoting him, says "this attack by the federal government on religious freedom in our country cannot stand and it will not stand"?
>> the speaker is just wrong. i hope the public really looks at the facts. also in a larger context, there is a war against women . when you look at the fact they're trying to at least last year take away funding for planned parenthood , when you look at what is taking place in terms of women 's health care , systematically over and over again, we see this assault and this attack on women . so the i believe that women in this country and most people really understand the political nature of what the speaker is saying. we're going to make sure that women do continue to have access to reproductive health care and to health care anton basic kind of affordable accessible health care that everyone in our country deserves. the type of health care that they choose. they have the freedom of choice . all women should be able to decide whether or not they want to access contraceptive care or not.
>> representative barbara lee , born into a catholic family. thank you,
