Cuccinelli’s backward vision

Thursday marked one year since the Affordable Care Act’s birth control benefit went into effect, ensuring that all women have access to affordable birth control, regardless of their employer.

Birth control is basic preventive care. An estimated 99 percent of women between the ages of 15 and 44 who are sexually active have used birth control at some point in their lives, and nearly 60 percent of women who use birth control pills cite noncontraceptive health benefits as a contributing factor, such as treating endometriosis, a leading cause of infertility in women.

A new study released last week by the Guttmacher Institute shows that giving women access to affordable birth control helped prevent 2.2 million unintended pregnancies in 2010, which would have resulted in 1.1 million unplanned births and 760,000 abortions.

Expanding access to birth control with no co-pays under the birth control benefit will save women and families up to $600 a year. This is not a revolutionary idea and is something that around 70 percent of Americans support — including nearly six out of 10 Catholics.

But not Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, the Republican candidate for governor.

Instead of standing up in support of this historic change in access, Cuccinelli has vehemently denounced it. In his book, “The Last Line of Defense,” he called this measure a “sterilization mandate” and has previously suggested that people should be willing to “go to jail” to fight the law.

It shouldn’t be surprising that Cuccinelli fails to recognize the health and economic benefits Virginia women and families see from better access to birth control.

Cuccinelli has shown throughout his career just how out of touch he is. As a state senator, he voted — twice — against legislation clarifying that birth control was not a form of abortion, and he co-sponsored so-called personhood legislation that if enacted could have blocked access to some forms of birth control.

Cuccinelli has shown time and again that he is out of step with most Virginians who want better access to affordable health services and want to make personal and private medical decisions without interference from extreme politicians in Richmond — especially when it comes to something as basic as birth control.

So as we celebrate the one-year anniversary of this historic move forward for women’s health, we are reminded that Virginia cannot afford to move backward.

Cuccinelli has spent a career trying to turn back the clock on women’s health, and Virginia must keep him out of office to continue to move Virginia and women’s health forward.

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