Ever since the shooting at the Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado, Democrats have been seizing the political opportunities presented by the tragedy and seeking to steer the national conversation away from things like terrorism and immigration and back to their comfort zone of abortion and “women’s health.” One aspect of that policy point is contraception, which Hillary Clinton loves to cite when attacking Republicans. (Life Site News)

“The shooting on Friday was at, as you know, a Planned Parenthood clinic, a place where lots of women get healthcare they need – breast exams, STD testing, contraception, and, yes, safe and legal abortions,” Clinton said at dinner for the Democratic Party in New Hampshire over the weekend. “We should be supporting Planned Parenthood, not attacking it.”…

“And it is way past time to protect women’s health and respect women’s rights, not use them as political footballs,” she said.

The whole contraception question came up yesterday when Ted Cruz was addressing a group of supporters and he managed to deliver a refreshing and honest take on the question. The Democrats like to claim that Republicans are somehow against contraception (which is a clever ploy when trying to win the women’s vote) but Cruz was having none of it. (CNN)

“As I noted, Heidi and I, we have two little girls. I’m very glad we don’t have 17,” he told the hundreds of people in the audience. “And it’s a great example when the war on women came up, Republicans would curl up in a ball, they’d say, ‘Don’t hurt me.’ Jiminy Cricket!”

“Last I checked we don’t have a rubber shortage in America. When I was in college we had a machine in the bathroom, you put .50 cents in and voila!” Cruz continued, receiving some uncomfortable laughter from the audience. “So yes, anyone who wants contraceptives can access them, but it’s an utterly made-up nonsense issue.”

This is correct and it’s high time somebody came out and said it. The contraceptive issue is one which is entirely made up when it come to accessibility, but the Democrats love to conflate two entirely different questions in their lines of attack. First of all, Americans are not opposed to the availability and use of contraception in various forms. The vast majority use or have used one type of contraception or another, with 90% (and even 82% of Catholics) saying it’s “morally acceptable” and a staggering 70% even support making the pill available over the counter rather than by prescription. The idea of regulating condoms doesn’t even register in public surveys because it’s a silly idea.

Where Republicans and Democrats disagree is on the idea that – as with most things – the federal government should be able to mandate that an employer provide contraception coverage to their employees. This isn’t even an issue for the vast majority of employers, but it quickly becomes one when that “employer” happens to be a religious organization like the Little Sisters of the Poor. (It won’t come as much of a surprise if the Nuns are among the 18% of Catholics who oppose contraception.)

But even in those cases, this isn’t an argument against the legality or even the use of contraception, no matter how much Hillary Clinton would like to portray it as such. It’s a question of whether or not the government can force someone to violate their own core religious beliefs. Ted Cruz is actually making this case in a humorous and sensible way. It’s a template that other conservatives might consider following when the media demands they answer Clinton’s charges about the War on Women.