Planned Parenthood TV Ad Knocks McCain on Birth Control
EmailABC News’ Tahman Bradley and Teddy Davis report: Planned Parenthood Action Fund has seized on Sen. John McCain’s recent on-camera hesitation when he was asked to clarify his position on forcing health insurance companies to cover birth control the way some cover Viagra, a male enhancement drug, by launching a television commercial slamming the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
Abortion rights groups have launched a push to highlight McCain’s position on birth control after one of his top advisers, Carly Fiorina, seemed to criticize some health insurance companies for covering Viagra, but not birth control.
"There are many health insurance plans that will cover Viagra but won’t cover birth-control medication. Those women would like a choice," Fiorina told reporters at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast in Washington D.C. last Monday.
The McCain campaign scrambled to explain her comments last week which seemed to be at odds with the candidate’s view. In 2003 and 2005, McCain voted against requiring insurance companies to include coverage for birth control.
"I don’t know enough about it to give you an informed answer," the Arizona Senator told a reporter last week, when asked to clarify his position on birth control after Fiorina’s comments.
Watch the TV commercial HERE.
Planned Parenthood backs Sen. Barack Obama for president and its political action arm hopes to help the Illinois senator shore up support among women by purchasing time on shows with large female audiences, like Project Runway, Army Wives and Oprah.
The 30-second spot will air in swing states Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio, and Wisconsin. A spokesman would not say how much money is behind the ad.
The Republican National Comittee disputes the characterization of McCain’s position on birth control in the ad, saying that McCain voted against bills that would have used taxpayer funds to promote the use of emergency contraceptives.
"These types of misleading partisan attacks wont help women who are desperately in need of quality healthcare," said RNC spokeswomen Amber Wilkerson. "John McCain’s plan will provide all Americans with choice and competition in health insurance, putting patients in charge of their own care instead of Washington bureaucrats."
Long before Fiorina made her contraception comments last week, Democrats had identified McCain’s votes against requiring birth control coverage as a key means by which they would seek to make him unacceptable to women with moderate social views.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean first signaled an interest in highlighting McCain’s opposition to mandatory birth control pill coverage during an April 10 McCain polling briefing with the media.
Speaking to reporters at party headquarters in Washington, DC, Dean said that women participating in a DNC focus group in West Virginia were "shocked" to learn that the presumptive Republican nominee has voted against requiring private insurance companies to cover birth control pills. Dean said they were also "shocked" to learn that he has backed "abstinence only" sex education.
Dean said the women taking part in the West Virginia focus group saw these two issue stances as evidence that McCain holds "old-fashioned" views. The former Vermont governor said focus group participants were also concerned about McCain’s health.
While saying that voters bring up McCain’s age unprompted, Dean said the DNC would not make his age an issue in the campaign against him.
McCain’s campaign says that the Arizona senator’s opposition to requiring birth control coverage is part of a broader aversion to mandates. By creating a 2500 refundable tax credit for individuals to purchase health insurance, McCain hopes the market will make more insurance options available to Americans including those who do not receive coverage through their workplace.
Sen. DeMint: GOP Race Could Go Until Convention 
Obama Avoids Questions on Contraception Rule
Well there it is hillary girls so before you go off voting for mccain out of spite i strongly suggest you do your research on mccain and his voting record when it comes to woman i did and i think you will be having second thoughts!!!obama08
Posted by: angie | July 16, 2008, 2:21 pm 2:21 pm
How shameful for him. I wont be voting for McCain, but Obama has not won me over either. I am truly undecided right now.
Posted by: rachel | July 16, 2008, 2:24 pm 2:24 pm
Don’t you think the delay in answering was because he didn’t know what she was talking about. Birth control in his world is the rhythm method.
Posted by: JR | July 16, 2008, 2:47 pm 2:47 pm
seah
Birth control is not only used to prevent pregnancies
Posted by: angie | July 16, 2008, 3:00 pm 3:00 pm
Let’s see – one of the headlines today was the Idiot in the White House wanted to declare most forms of contraception (used by women) as ABORTION. Stupidest president ever, bar none…
Posted by: DaveM | July 16, 2008, 3:12 pm 3:12 pm
I worked for Planned Parenthood, Chicago Area back in the ’60s. Family planning, in which every child is a wanted child has always been the motto of this organization. I’m personally ambivalent about abortion, but I am pro-choice. If a woman (or girl) chooses to terminate her pregnancy, that should be a decision between her and her doctor and it’s inarguable that an abortion performed in sterile surroundings by qualified staff is better than taking a chance with some old bag with a coat hanger in some back alley dump. However, there are many other safe methods of birth control besides the pill or patch, available to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
Posted by: nanameow | July 16, 2008, 3:20 pm 3:20 pm
No man, and yes I am one, should have the audacity to speak on the subject of abortion. No man should have the nerve to tell a woman what she should or should not do with her body. That is her decision and her’s alone. When men, and I’m talking real men, not that freak in California; start carrying babies for nine months and then have to raise the child as an only parent, then, and only then, can they have an opinion on this topic…
Posted by: DaveM | July 16, 2008, 3:35 pm 3:35 pm
Polls shmolls- McCain will win because he is able to say and do whats right despite the prevailing political winds- ya’ll who think its OK to kill unwanted unborn humans, for all your rationale and good reasons, here’s a clue- abortion is wrong, you know, immoral- like all the other bad things going on in the world, mistakes made by both “sides”. True healthcare, that “does no harm” should be provided to women and children first, for free in this country, including birth control (of course as it would make for way less unwanted pregs).
One more mod. dem.here voting for McCain. Wish I could vote for a dem. truly, but the far out left (you know, the ones that thinks its OK to kill unborn humans just because they aren’t out yet, ya, creepy aren’t they) won’t drop infanticide from our platform- McCain will win and it’ll be their fault / JERKS
Posted by: Brian | July 16, 2008, 3:48 pm 3:48 pm
Rachel – a very wise person told me a long time ago that not making a decision IS making a decision (by default). While many people are either not convinced by Obama or don’t like him for one reason or another, there is no choice really because to either vote for McCain or to allow him to win by not voting at all will change women’s lives for the worse for a very long time to come. Can you imagine not having access to birth control or to accidentally become pregnant and not having the choice whether to continue with the pregnancy or not? Can you imagine what is tantamount to turning control of your body over to the government? Can you imagine not having an equal pay for equal work law on the books because McCain said, and this is pretty close to a quote, “women need more training.” Can you imagine having your husband or boyfriend or son coming home from Iraq emotionally devastated and having the government not pay for any sort of treatment because they put it down as a pre-existing condition because they don’t want to pay for therapy? Can you imagine the economy under a McCain leadership? All our money and resources to the tune of trillions of dollars are being spent on a war with seemingly no end, and McCain makes jokes about bombing Iran (how presidential is that?!) which means he’d have no problem starting another war. Obama may not be totally proven (yet) but he’s very, very smart and has run a terrific campaign financially and otherwise. He’ll be just fine as president. McCain will be a disaster. At this time, in this election, not voting = a victory for McCain. I shudder to think about the mindset of the Supreme Court nominees he will be promoting. I hope people think long and hard about what a McCain presidency will mean to their lives.
Posted by: counting crows | July 16, 2008, 3:50 pm 3:50 pm
Insurance companies provide ED meds because they are to treat an illness. Many don’t provide birth control because it has nothing to do with illness. Companies have the right to provide what services they want to. If you don’t like what your provider offers, get another one that does. See, democrats want us all to have one insurance company and everybody pays for everybody else and one company decides what gets paid for and what doesn’t. Republicans want a free market system where you can have CHOICE about who your provider is. I prefer the latter. If you want to know what kills you (HA) on health insurance, SMOKERS. About 70 percent of people in the hospital are there directly or indirectly because of their smoking. Since I’ve never smoked in my life it really ticks me off to pay their bills. I’m for open market insurance and I’m signing up for a non smoker company.
Posted by: vickster | July 16, 2008, 3:52 pm 3:52 pm
Seah – What do you call people who use the rhythm method?
answer: parents
If you are a woman, do what you want yourself but stop preaching to those of us who want control over our own bodies. If you’re a man, well, maybe you’ll be reincarnated into a woman in the next life, if there is one, in a world where birth control is forbidden. Or maybe some day there will be men who don’t whine and carry on like children at being asked to use a condom.
Posted by: counting crows | July 16, 2008, 3:58 pm 3:58 pm
Insurance companies provide ED meds because they are to treat an illness. Many don’t provide birth control because it has nothing to do with illness. ~vickster~
Ok, so erectile dysfunction is an “illness” and uncontrollable, debilitating monthly bleeding isn’t.
Vickster needs to get their facts straight! (no pun intended!) LOL!!
Posted by: Betty | July 16, 2008, 4:09 pm 4:09 pm
vickster wrote:
Republicans want a free market system where you can have CHOICE about who your provider is. I prefer the latter.
**********
Yea, gotta love those “free market” lines the Repub give out. Free market has allowed the student loan interest rates to rise from 4% to 25%. Free markets gave us 35% interest rates on credit cards and the mortgage meltdown.
Under McCain’s plan you will need outside financing to pay for open heart surgery.
Posted by: Jane Hussein | July 16, 2008, 4:15 pm 4:15 pm
to seah and vickster…
i, and many other women, have a condition called endometriosis, which has symptoms including extreme pelvic and back pain, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, irregularly heavy menstrual bleeding, and sometimes infertility. the only hope i have of any longterm relief is with the continued use of birth control.
Posted by: erin | July 16, 2008, 5:36 pm 5:36 pm
I always appreciated Planned Parenthood’s role as an advocate for women’s rights, but when an organization abuses its role to deliberately misconstrue the facts and mislead voters – it’s a deep violation of trust, and I for one, will no longer support them. For the record – McCain is not against the insurance companies covering birth control – most of them do anyway – he is against FORCING them to provide something that not all insurance consumers want – it’s about choosing the policy that’s best for you, not having the government decide that everyone should have this coverage even if they don’t want it or need it. Also, insurance is designed to cover the expensive drugs that cause a hardship on the average budget, not the cheap prescriptions, like birth control that only cost a few dollars.
Posted by: Missy M | July 16, 2008, 5:41 pm 5:41 pm
Jane Hussein – It is really low to bring the McCain’s 13-year-old daughter and her weight into the discussion. Just like it is in extremely poor taste to insult or poke fun at the Obama girls. Childhood obesity IS NOT an indicator of poor parenting – it’s a complex issue with a host of contributing factors. You may not like John McCain – that’s your right and I certainly am not here to sway your vote, but leave the children out of it.
Posted by: Mrs. Tea | July 16, 2008, 6:11 pm 6:11 pm
McCain has one of the worst records with Planned Parenthood…Being a war hero doesn’t default you to the White House, one has to be passionate about more than one issue, not just war.
Posted by: Jennifer | July 16, 2008, 6:56 pm 6:56 pm
erin= the voice of reason
In case everybody else missed erin’s story. Birth Control Pills are used for other MEDICAL reasons. Not just to prevent pregnancy.
Posted by: Tina,NC | July 17, 2008, 1:23 am 1:23 am
Question Missy M, explain why McCain voted AGAINST a bill that would require insurance companies to cover BIRTH CONTROL pills if he’s not against them.
Also, well the last comment you made just made me laugh because I don’t know of any “cheap” prescriptions. My mothers takes 13 different pills a day. Not one is below $100 per perscription. Please come back when you are old and without health insurance and then we’ll see how great McCain’s health plan looks for ya.
Posted by: Tina, NC | July 17, 2008, 1:35 am 1:35 am
What do you expect, he’s 200 years old! Will someone just slapped him!
Posted by: me | July 17, 2008, 2:16 am 2:16 am
Do insurance companies cover condoms? No. Do they cover Hormone Replacement for menopause? Yes. So Viagra should be covered for ED, just like HRT treats hot flashes. No condoms? No birth control pills. Fair is fair.
Dean is comparing apples and oranges, stupid demogoguery as usual
Posted by: Matt | July 17, 2008, 3:50 am 3:50 am
No Man … No Man … should speak … wait a minute. Men may have the lesser part in birth but they do have a say. Their abilities to care exceeds the imagination of the person that is so twisted that they say ‘No Man Can Speak for Me’!
Since there is diversity in people, so shall you find ladies who appreciate that a man cares enough to speak out in your behalf. Had your father and grand-father spoken to you in your formative years, as men! You would not have this issue about NO Man!
We truly are a diverse culture and those loud individuals that say NO Man surely missed out on the proper relationship and whose senses have been damaged to the point that wisdom from the male species is rejected. Life is short! Stop yelling and seek to begin living and enjoying the diversity of this world.
We should not find happiness in the dark damp shadows of hate and misery. Yet some do – a diversity. But when early dawn comes in to the smallest glimpes of your eye seeking joy. You to will embrace the warmth of that light. Ladies it is a Jungle out there and it must be you who speaks with timely wisdom. But to say … No Man can speak for you … it is tragic. In knowledge you will understand. Sorry for any mishandling in the past. That can and will change … just stop yelling against the one one thing that you were created for. Find a real Man … it makes all the difference in the World.
Posted by: Washbasin | July 17, 2008, 6:31 am 6:31 am
I would consider it a Badge of Honor, to have a group like Planned Parenthood run an add AGAINST me, because I had the belief that SLAUGHTERING a BABY, inside his MOTHERS’ womb, was WRONG. This isn’t “Planned Parenthhod”, it’s Planned Murder. The idea that these SLUTS can’t seem to grasp this, tells everyone who THEY are. You want birth control? Keep your legs closed.
Posted by: Timothy L. Pennell | July 17, 2008, 7:11 am 7:11 am
Sure McCain knows what is in women’s best interests…
I’m sure abadoning his ex-wife Carol after she had a near-death accident to womanize and fool around was in HER best interests. I guess loyalty and fidelity really don’t mean much in this world. You say that women should keep their legs closed. Okay. Well lets have men keep it in their pants to begin with – sex is usually a mutual thing so stop putting blame soley on the female.
If he can’t treat his own wife with respect and control his sleeping around, why would I want him to have control over MY body?
McCain’s position on abortion is supposed to show strength of character and religion? This man has NO character. Opportunistic. This guy is fake. Typical, typical, typical.
Posted by: Reina, PA | July 17, 2008, 8:48 am 8:48 am
matt, and timothy, idk if you missed my earlier post, but i’ll share again. i, and many other women like me, suffer from a condition called endometriosis, which has symptoms including extreme pelvic and back pain, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, abnormally heavy menstrual bleeding–it can also lead to infertility. the disease has no cure. i suffered for years enduring pain so intense it sometimes led me to pass out–once smacking my head on the bathroom sink and getting a concussion. my only hope of longterm relief is my continued use of birth control. making it more difficult for women to obtain birth control will make it more difficult for the many women like me (roughly 10-15% of menstruating women) to get the treatment they need for endometriosis. Thank you tina for your support!
Posted by: erin | July 17, 2008, 11:28 am 11:28 am
McCain’s misogynism
McCain supposedly asked the crowd if they had heard “the one about the woman who is attacked on the street by a gorilla, beaten senseless, raped repeatedly and left to die?”
The punch line: “When she finally regains consciousness and tries to speak, her doctor leans over to hear her sigh contently and to feebly ask, “Where is that marvelous ape?”
Back in 1998, he odiously declared before a GOP crowd: “Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno.”
More recently he joked that it might be good for the United States to keep exporting cigarettes to Iran as cancer would prove an effective weapon against that country’s citizens.
Posted by: rhbate | July 17, 2008, 11:55 am 11:55 am
Timothy L. Pennell-
You are truly ignorant for making such an uneducated comment.
Along with Erin, I too suffered as a teen with endometriosis and wish for just one month you could feel the pain that I endured.
Why would you post such an angry comment about women, calling them sluts?Sounds like a personal issue.
So what do you suggest a woman should do when face with something like an unwanted pregnancy as a result of rape??
Posted by: Julie | July 17, 2008, 1:00 pm 1:00 pm
I posted on this subject yesterday. Even today many girls and women really have no idea how their bodies work and the male of the species, for the most part, has an “aim and shoot” mentality with little concern for their sexual partner and little knowledge of how their own bodies work sexually. The notoriety about Planned Parenthood focuses on the agency’s pro-choice stance and support of safe abortions for those women who make that choice. However, the main focus of the agency has always been, and I believe always will be, that every child deserves to be a wanted child. This agency has been proactive in family planning education world wide, as well as making many contributions in the field of women’s health.
Posted by: nanameow | July 17, 2008, 3:22 pm 3:22 pm
Mr. Pennell no doubt is an angry person. This issue is purely a religious issue and as such, it should be practiced by those people who are against abortion. Dont project your believs on the rest of the world. It is easy to act sanctimonious when you are not affected.
It sounds like his religion has been forgotten….love thy neighbor as you would love thyself.
Posted by: Jimbo | July 17, 2008, 6:11 pm 6:11 pm
I vote we fund NEITHER! I’m not paying for your freakin’ pleasure.
Posted by: Alex Smith | July 17, 2008, 6:12 pm 6:12 pm
Funny how republiCONS want less government intervention on everything expcept this issue. Now they want full blown government regulations and the cost that comes along with it. I guess they need more reasons to complain about how tax dollars are spent……..Those abortions police won’t work for free…..Get those wallets out, more taxes and fees to come
Mr. Pennell needs our prayers more than the women he thinks he is protecting. Mr Pennell, you can not force your christianity, or any other religious belief for that matter. For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son, that WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH in Him shall have everlasting life. Are you tring to say that HE forgot the part about forcing people to believe if they choose not to believe, or is that something you added????
Posted by: NoCrossNoCrown | July 18, 2008, 3:45 am 3:45 am
I just wanted to say that not only are there women out there with a condition known as Endometriosis, but there is also a condition called PCOS or Polycystic Ovarian Syndrom. I suffer from this condition and it has much of the same symptoms as Endometriosis and some that are worse. The only option for me is to take birth control. It is the MEDICATION that is used for this type of MEDICAL CONDITION. There are several websites and even WebMD has information concerning these conditions. They are worse than Erectile Dysfunction. I’m sorry but just because you can’t get it up doesn’t put you in the same category that has SEVERE cramps, difficulty losing weight, having to monitor my blood sugar for the fear of getting diabetes, fatigue, INFERTILITY, and ovaries that look like grapes because your hormones are all out of whack. I can’t stand for people to make an uninformed accusation about women’s so called “life choices” I did not choose to be in pain EVERY DAY of my life because my hormones aren’t at the right levels. I did not choose not to be able to have children without fertility treatments and ovulation therapy, and I know for darn sure that I did not choose to want to be on birth control KNOWING I cannont get pregnant even if I didn’t take it. So thank you, all of you uninformed people that make us feel like we are dirt because of the medications we take. Thank you very much!
Posted by: Ashley | July 18, 2008, 8:56 am 8:56 am
Ashley, my empathy and support go out to you. a close friend of mine suffers from POCS and I know how much she has had to endure over the years. like i said in an earlier post, i have endometriosis, and we’ve been a big support for each other because so many people don’t understand the pain we have to go through. a lot of people (esp. men) want to write it off as women just complaining about the normal discomfort of menstruating. definitely not so! i’ve passed out from pain 3 times in the past, once receiving a concussion. it hasn’t been an easy ride at all, and i know it hasn’t been so for you either. when i had my first laparascopy, my ovaries were literally glued to my pelvic wall with endometrial growths. i don’t know whether or not i’ll be able to conceive in the future, i only know that the odds are stacked against me. but i’ve always dreamed of having a family and my best chance of preserving my fertility is taking birth control. i wish other people could understand the emotions and psychological pain that comes along with disorders like these.
Posted by: Erin | July 18, 2008, 10:58 am 10:58 am
And…
there are women who take birth control so as not to get pregnant. SO???
Frankly, I just can’t get over the fact that birth control has come to be equated with abortion. Talk about retro.
Posted by: K | July 18, 2008, 12:24 pm 12:24 pm
I am not for abortion, but understand that there are many reasons women take the pill, and do not consider the pill equivalent to an abortion. Many posters have informed us of their medical conditions, and they really need the pill to help them with their physical agony. Although a Republican, I think George Bush is way out of line on this one, as he has been on many things. Not all Republicans are as out of touch as he is, unfortunately, he happens to occupy The White House at this time and that is everyone’s loss.
Posted by: Lisa Again | July 18, 2008, 6:23 pm 6:23 pm
women who care about God’s law or herselfish ? Abortion is wrong,think about it! God Bless America,
receive the Power in order to control yourself.
Posted by: luuchu | July 18, 2008, 10:57 pm 10:57 pm
the day men as men, not sex-changes or other, but as men, have babies the real way, is the day we will all be relieved. they’d say yes to everything a woman needs!!
Posted by: augusta | July 19, 2008, 4:15 am 4:15 am
America, Pre1973…
America, Post 1973…
Are things getting better?
Are things getting worse?
Do you want things to get better?
Do you want things to get worse?
You be the one to decide…
It up to you…
Posted by: dho... | July 19, 2008, 4:32 pm 4:32 pm
Let’s see…Someone wants to pay for erectile dysfunction meds so a man can get an erection and impregnate females, but won’t pay for the woman’s birth control. Sounds like just another way to keep a woman barefoot and pregnant to me!!
Posted by: grounded | August 21, 2008, 2:07 pm 2:07 pm
You know what is really sad? These same people (moral people) who don’t believe in birth control for women (saying it is immoral) believe that it is ok to kill innocent people in another country (Iraq) for a war that makes absolutely no sense! Most of the christians in this country that support Bush believe that it is ok to kill people but not support birth control!
Posted by: Debbie | August 23, 2008, 1:44 pm 1:44 pm
contraceptives are not covered by insurance because the desire to not get pregnant is not an illness! John McCains voting record is disstorted by not specifying what he voted against! John McCain is a moderate with everyones best interest in mind because he is a good man and honest. Obama has changed his position on every single issue that he ran on in the primaries because he will say whatever it takes to win the Presidency! The Obama you see is not the real Obama, and the John McCain that Dems try to portray is not the real John McCain!
Posted by: Bruce | October 2, 2008, 6:16 pm 6:16 pm