Via ThinkProgress Health (I know, I know) comes this gem from Santorum:
Rick Santorum pledged to repeal all federal funding for contraception, during a recent interview with CaffeinatedThoughts.com editor Shane Vander Hart, arguing that birth control devalues the act of procreation. “One of the things I will talk about, that no president has talked about before, is I think the dangers of contraception in this country,” the former Pennsylvania senator explained. “It’s not okay. It’s a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be
I won’t give Santorum much, but I will give the defeated Pennsylvania senator this. He doesn’t hide what he thinks.
Good grief.
Can’t say I agree with Dan Savage about much of anything politics-wise, but he ain’t wrong about Santorum.
What’s amazing is that even with his (admittedly) crazy belief that contraception is evil, Santorum manages to still make more sense than a lot of people who believe (not without justification) that he is an idiot.
I mean, is funding abortions a legitimate, enumerated power of the FEDERAL government?
And can someone who answers, “No.” to that question be totally crazy?
And is someone who answers, “Yes.” half as smart as he is likely to consider himself?
Whatever one might think about contraception, there is nothing in the federal constitution that prevents a state from making it illegal if the state wishes to, and there is nothing that provides the federal government with the power to fund its use. The constitution is silent on the question of contraception, and as such under the 10th amendment, that topic is reserved to the States for them to legislate as they see fit. If a state like Connecticut chooses to make contraception illegal, or a state like Massachusetts chooses to require a doctor’s prescription to obtain it, then so be it. Other states like California or Washington State will hand it out with shovels to those who ask for it. That’s the nature of federalism.
The fundamental question facing our polity right now is about the size and scope of the federal government. Santorum is, for the most part, on the right side of that debate. I wouldn’t vote for him, but I wouldn’t mock him either.