COMMENTARY | With unemployment benefits extended and the payroll tax cut out of the way, the GOP has turned its collective attention to social issues. It’s an odd strategy considering the divisive nature of such topics, and one has to wonder if this whistlestop tour through sex and religion was part of the plan or a last-ditch attempt to find something other than the improving economy to talk about. The improving economy benefits GOP nemesis Barack Obama, so it’s not surprising Republican hopefuls might wish to focus voter attention elsewhere.
Candidates allege contraception mandate is “war on religion”
Presidential candidates Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich have hammered home the message that Obama’s free contraception mandate constitutes a war on religious liberty even when insurance companies are the ones paying for contraceptive care. According to a New York Times poll, most Americans, including most Catholics, feel differently, agreeing with the president’s position 2-1. Santorum backer Foster Friess joked about “gals” holding Bayer aspirin between their knees as contraception, while New Hampshire state Rep. Lynne Blankenbeker told married couples to use condoms or abstinence, both of which are available over the counter.
Ultrasounds, prenatal care and personhood amendments
Other GOP initiatives making headlines include personhood amendments in several states granting adult-style civil rights at conception, forced transvaginal ultrasounds for women seeking abortions and an assertion by Rick Santorum that prenatal testing for pregnant women leads to abortions. Santorum’s position on prenatal testing seems to be at odds with the conservative Family Foundation who lauded the Virginia mandatory transvaginal ultrasound bill as an “update” to the state’s existing informed consent laws “with the most advanced medical technology available.”
Same sex marriage
Chris Christie, a favorite as a vice presidential pick, vetoed a bill approving gay marriage in New Jersey in favor of a voter referendum even though voter involvement in gay marriage has been deemed unconstitutional in California.
Women in work and the military
The New York Times reports Santorum was forced to clarify statements he made this month about working women and women in the military. Comments in his 2005 book accused “radical feminists” of convincing women that they could only find fulfillment in the workplace, comments he later said were new to him as they’d been written by his wife. As for women in the military, Santorum has said they should have a more limited role due to “emotional issues,” which he later clarified to mean that male soldiers might feel emotionally driven to protect female soldiers at the expense of mission objectives.
Theology in political leadership
The latest hot potato for the GOP campaign is the flap over Santorum’s controversial remarks on theology, leadership and President Obama’s faith. Though Santorum later said that he meant world view and not theology, the candidate twice described Obama’s religious beliefs as “some phony theology,” that is not based on the Bible. Many pundits took that as a reference to conspiracy theories which allege that Obama is a Muslim.