newjerseynewsroom.com

BY YURI RESETOVS

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

In a Sunday interview on MSNBC, Arizona Senator John McCain stated that he opposes the Arizona Birth Control Bill (House Bill 2625), which would give Arizona employers the right to fire an employee (read: any woman) who uses birth control for the purpose of preventing pregnancy.

“I am confident that the legislation will not reach the governor’s desk, and if it did it would be vetoed,” McCain said in an interview with MSNBC’s Meet the Press. “It certainly doesn’t reflect, in my view, the majority view of the people of Arizona.” When asked about a “war on women among Republicans,” the senator answered that the GOP needs to “fix that; I think that there’s a perception out there because of the way that this whole contraception issue played out.  We need to get off of that issue, in my view. I think we ought to respect the right of women to make choices in their lives and make that clear and go back onto what the American people really care about: jobs and the economy.”

The controversial bill, which was endorsed by the Senate Judiciary Committee, has already passed in the state House of Representative. Under current law, health plans that cover prescription medications must also cover contraception. The new bill, authored by Majority Whip Debbie Lesko (R-Glendale) would permit employers to ask their employees for proof of medical prescription if they seek contraceptives for non-reproductive purposes, such as hormone control or acne treatment. That is, the employee must provide a doctor’s note exclaiming that their contraception is for reasons other than contraception.

“If a woman wants the cost of her contraception covered, she has to ‘submit a claim’ to her employer providing evidence of a medical condition, such as endometriosis or polycystic ovarian syndrome, that can be treated with birth control,” reported the Huffington Post.

This bill is a response that would nullify the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law in March of 2010. Lesko said, “I believe we live in America. We don’t live in the Soviet Union. So, the government should not be telling the organizations or mom and pop employers to do something against their moral beliefs. My whole legislation is about our First Amendment rights and freedom of religion. All my bill does is that an employer can opt out of the mandate if they have any religious objections,” reported Thania A. Betacourt for statepress.com

Planned Parenthood President Bryan Howard opposes HB2625, stating that “this is an attack on women’s healthcare and their ability to make healthcare decisions for themselves and their families according to their faith,” and that this assault on women’s healthcare “across the country.”

The original version of the bill made it illegal for an employer to discriminate against women who purchased their own contraception without employer health covers, but that section was removed, “presumably making it just fine for an employer to fire a woman for simply having pills in her purse,” reported Wendy Gittleson for addictinginfo.org.

Some are surprised by Sen. McCain’s opposition to the contraception bill, but one needs only to look into the McCain family to understand his reasoning. It was only last week that 27-year-old daughter, who is a columnist at The Daily Beast and a contributor to MSNBC, did an exposing interview with Playboy magazine.

When asked about her personal life, Meghan McCain replied to the magazine that she’s not a lesbian, and that, “I love sex and I love men.” Continuing on her vocal support of same-sex marriage, she replied that “Rachel [Maddow] and Tila [Tequila] are just great people. For me, it’s an issue of civil rights. Who people want to sleep with and who they want to love should not have anything to do with government politics at all. And if you see me in a gay bar, it’s only because they play the best music and my gay friends like to dance.”

It is no doubt that she could bring some bad press for her father had he been elected President, but it seems that the Senator and his daughter see eye-to-eye on issues such as civil rights for women. Perhaps the Senator doesn't want to impose on his daughter's private life, and feels that employers don't have a right to impose on their employees.

Meghan McCain also made news when she criticized the 2012 campaign for lacking electricity, while stating that the Republicans need to “excite younger people, independents, Hispanic voters and the disenfranchised,” adding that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on the vice-presidential ticket can “change the weather.”