Bobby Jindal says Republicans backing 'over-the-counter' birth control would blunt Democratic attacks
Washington, Dec. 15 (ANI)
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has said that the GOP should endorse over-the-counter birth control as a prescription for the Republican Party's political health.
The Republican governor argued that allowing birth control pills to be sold without a prescription, as recommended by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, "would take contraception out of the political arena."
"As a conservative Republican, I believe that we have been stupid to let the Democrats demagogue the contraceptives issue and pretend, during debates about health-care insurance, that Republicans are somehow against birth control," the New York Daily News quoted Jindal, as saying.
"It's a disingenuous political argument they make," he said.
According to the report, he said requiring a prescription for birth control only drives up health care costs and boosts pharmaceutical company profits.
While he said contraception is a "personal matter," he also suggested that employers who are opposed to birth control on religious grounds shouldn't be required to cover its cost, the report said.
"If an insurance company or those purchasing insurance want to cover birth control, they should be free to do so," he said. "If a consumer wants to buy birth control on her own, she should be free to do so."