With a few wins notched in his belt, Rick Santorum’s presidential future hangs in the air as his opinion on birth control reduces the pool of potential supportive women voters.

President Barack Obama announced last week that he will be revising his contraceptive policy after the Catholic Church was outraged.
Changing course, a compromise to the legislation ensure religious-affiliated institutions will not be mandated to pay or provide birth control for employees.

However, women will still be able to gain access to free contraceptive methods through their insurance providers.
During the trial, women were prevented from testifying before the hearing and the witness table consisted of all men.

A recent CNN poll revealed that 50 percent of the public disapproves with the president’s administration policy. The poll also reveals that the majority of American Catholics do not see birth control as wrong or the Catholic stance as right.

Although Santorum’s religious beliefs have been mostly under wraps from the public, his frankness on birth control in America has mirrored strong Catholic beliefs.

Last year, during an interview with Caffeinated Thoughts, an Evangelical blog, Santorum referred to his beliefs on the dangers of contraception when he shared his desire to talk to the country about something he claims no president has ever talked about.

“It’s not OK,” Santorum said. “Because it’s a license to do things in the sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be.”

While Santorum has already dug himself a deep hole, the situation gets a bit stickier with comments by a wealthy super Political Action Committee (PAC) donor. Foster Friess has given large six-figure donations to the super PAC making him one of Santorum’s most generous backers. Generosity aside, Santorum sunk a little deeper with Friess’ NBC interview with Andrea Mitchell.

“This contraception thing, my gosh, it’s so inexpensive,” Friess said. “You know, back in my days, they’d use Bayer aspirin for contraceptives. The gals put it between their knees and it wasn’t that costly.”

Santorum states that he is not responsible for anything his supporters say. Yet, he has never been ashamed to share his own feelings on how he believes birth control is harmful to women and society.

I didn’t see a “doctor” in his title, so I’m not going to take his word for it. Santorum also deems that birth control encourages sex outside of marriage and that prenatal screening encourages abortions. One would think lack of contraception leads to
more abortions.

“Rick Santorum is the worst choice for women,” Jess McIntosh, a women’s rights spokesperson, told CBS News.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, of the 62 million women aged 15-44 who has had sexual intercourse, 99 percent of them used at least one form of contraception. Of 43 million fertile and sexually active women who do not want to become pregnant, 89 percent are practicing contraception.

My dermatologist prescribed me birth control when I was a freshman in high school because I had acne. I never for a second viewed it as a free pass to go have sex.

It is difficult to understand the logic behind Santorum’s statements and how he stands so firmly against a clear majority of women in the United States.

Lines have been crossed where the discussions on this matter are uncomfortable and inappropriate.

While I respect religious beliefs, I do not believe it is acceptable for the government to decide or judge how I will prevent myself from unwanted pregnancy. Santorum needs to stay out of it.
If Santorum is looking down on women for using birth control, then what are his thoughts on condoms? If it weren’t for sexually transmittable diseases, perhaps Santorum would look at those just the same.