This graph (click to embiggen) shows the teenage pregnancy and abortion rate for the last 20 years. Guess what? When teens get pregnant less often, they abort less often. Add this in with the fact that effective birth control (like IUDs and some of the new Pill formulations) can be a serious expense for middle-class households, while Viagra is covered by most health plans, and the 55-40 split in public opinion supporting insurance payment for contraception, and you have a solid political winner.
I commented on one of Kay’s threads yesterday that I’d believe that Republicans were serious about contraception pushback when they introduced a bill, mainly because I couldn’t believe that they’d throw down on such an obvious loser. I still don’t think they’ll do it, but Boehner has threatened to introduce legislation, and the five pro-choice Republicans left in the party met at a Denny’s and wrote a press release saying it was an obviously bad idea, so maybe they are going to down that rabbit hole. If they do, it’s a sign of desperation, not of strength, since it shows that a 55-40 winner is the worst thing that the Obama Administration has done recently.