The Reading Blog

Here are a couple of nice opinion pieces criticizing John McCain’s views on insurance coverage for birth control and other issues (such as equal pay) that more specifically concern women. If there really are pro-Hillary Clinton women who are considering voting for McCain to protest Obama clinching the Democratic nomination, they should really read these before they cast their votes (or, at least, find other information uncovering the truth behind McCain pro-women claims).

In July 17, 2008, The Nation, “McCain Opposes Contraception — Pass it On,” Katha Pollitt’s ponders,

… But can’t the commentariat take a break from itself and let the world know how much John McCain opposes birth control? Vastly more people rely on contraception than read The New Yorker or know Bernie Mac from mac’n’ cheese. In fact, vastly more people use birth control than believe Obama is a secret Muslim. They might like to know that when it comes to contraception, McCain is no maverick.

… Last week, Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard who has been helping McCain look bright-eyed and estrogen-friendly, told reporters that women wanted more choice in their health care plans; for example, it bothered women when plans covered Viagra but not contraception. Big mistake! McCain had voted against a bill that would have required plans to cover birth control if they covered prescription meds at all, like, um, Viagra. McCain’s nonresponse when queried about this by a reporter was astonishing. As posted on Youtube, he squirms and grins and smirks (Viagra! Embarrassing!) and fumfers about evasively. “I don’t know enough about it to give you an informed answer,” he manages to splutter, “because I don’t recall the vote, I’ve cast thousands of votes… it’s something I’ve not thought much about.”

So. John McCain is so opposed to contraception he voted against requiring  insurance plans to cover it like other drugs, and either so indifferent to women’s health and rights or just so out of it he doesn’t even  remember how he voted.  That’s the way to show American women you really care. This is not a trivial issue. There’s the basic unfairness of not covering these essential, even life-saving drugs and devices, so fundamental to women’s health and well-being, and the added insult of denying coverage while men are lavished with cut-rate erections. And there’s the craven submission to religious extremists that moves the politics of that denial.

On the same day, in The New York Times, “Trust Buster” Judith Warner wrote an opinion piece pointing out that while McCain and his campaign propaganda are trying to make it sound like he is pro-women’s issues, the reality is quite different. Here are some quotes from Warner’s article:

… McCain has opposed legislation aimed at helping women sue in cases of pay discrimination on the grounds that it could make businesses vulnerable to frivolous lawsuits. He criticized Barack Obama’s latest woman-friendly proposals — guaranteed sick days and more family leave — as “big-government” extravagances. He has voted to restrict women’s access not just to abortion but to birth control and affordable prenatal health care, and — though his own memory failed him in recalling this last week — he voted against legislation that would have required insurance companies to include contraceptives as part of their prescription drug coverage.

In other words, he has time after time put up roadblocks to any legislative measures that could help make women’s abstract equality a reality. While that’s standard Republican politics, it’s not really the stuff of a maverick — particularly not one who’s now trying his darndest … to woo Hillary Clinton’s most die-hard female supporters.