Politics roundup: Santorum and contraception

Generic Script

This past Tuesday, Rick Santorum won the Colorado and Minnesota caucuses as well as the “beauty contest” primary in Missouri that did not count for delegates due to caucuses that will be held by the state’s Republican Party on March 17^th. Tuesday was Santorum’s day in the spotlights as he convincingly won his first three states since his slim Iowa caucus victory at the beginning of the primary season. In Minnesota and Missouri, Santorum didn’t give up a single county, winning by double-digits over the 2^nd-place finisher in each state.

Mitt Romney, who won Minnesota and Colorado in 2008, was five points behind Santorum in Colorado and finished a distant third in Minnesota behind 2^nd-place finisher Ron Paul. This outcome surely came as an unpleasant surprise to a Romney campaign that had just won a pivotal Florida primary. The week wasn’t totally lost for Romney though. He squeaked ahead on Ron Paul in the Maine caucus on Saturday and took home a straw poll victory at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

Newt Gingrich, who very recently was considered Romney’s strongest challenger, had a horrible week. A 3^rd-place finish in Colorado and a 4^th-place finish in Minnesota have helped everyone forget the momentum he once had following his South Carolina primary win. Perhaps an even more ominous sign that his campaign has lost all traction and is now in free fall is that fact that his presence at CPAC this past weekend was almost totally ignored by conservative activists and the media. His 3^rd-place finish in the CPAC straw-poll is also now a good sign.

GOP and Obama Administration Fight Over Contraception

If you have been following the news over the last couple weeks, you probably have noticed the uproar from conservatives and Catholics over a provision in the Affordable Care Act that says employer-based health care plans must cover contraceptive services without copays. The regulation was finalized by Health and Human Services a few weeks ago.

When the regulation was finalized, it was revealed that places of worship that employ people who share the institution’s view on contraception would be exempt from the provision. Having said that, some religious nonprofits wouldn’t be exempt because not everyone they employ has the same beliefs. Because some religious institutions would be forced to provide their employees contraception, the issue of birth control has been thrust back onto the national stage and politicians have spent the last two weeks politically maneuvering to safer ground on the issue being that it is an election.

First, pro-life Republicans attacked the Obama administration on the issue, seeing the provision as both a violation of these religious institution’s pro-life, anti-contraception beliefs and their freedom to choose their own health care. These attacks caused a backlash from pro-choice Republicans that were worried about how a heavily publicized birth control battle would affect their popularity.