On Wednesday, President Barack Obama made a campaign stop in Colorado flanked by so-called contraception activist Sandra Fluke, who suggested that Republican candidate Mitt Romney would threaten a woman’s access to free contraception.
Later that evening on his radio program, syndicated conservative talk show host Mark Levin asked why contraception was suddenly a prominent issue for Obama, particularly with so many other more serious ailments plaguing the U.S. health care system.
“All I can say is this — if I ever see Obama coming at me with a pair of rubber gloves, I’m running, Mr. Producer,” Levin said. “Because now he is an expert on all these things. Is Obama a gynecologist now? What is he? ‘Now we all know that contraception is not just for family planning, but a way to reduce the risk of ovarian cancer and other cancers.’ It’s still relatively cheap. But what about those drugs for ovarian cancer? Are those free? No. What about those drugs to deal with breast cancer? Are those free? No. Contraceptives are. What about the drugs for diabetes, for heart disease? Are those free? No.”
According to Levin, the explanation was simple: Although cancer, diabetes and heart disease are greater threats to public health, they are harder to politicize and wouldn’t secure Obama as many votes.
“So even if you live in Obama’s world and you claim to be giving out freebies, why would you start with contraceptives and not cancer, or diabetes, or heart disease?” he asked. “And the answer ladies and gentlemen is this: They’re harder to politicize. He believes this will help get the women’s vote. That’s how cynical this guy is. That’s how distorted their thinking is. Obama is not about you. Obama is about himself. And a great nation really doesn’t need to spend an enormous amount of time debating free contraceptives, does it? This man has been president for almost four years. He’s a disaster.”