GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum muddied the moral waters being navigated by Republicans in the contraception debate on Sunday, when he told David Gregory on NBC's Meet the Press program that contraception is "deeply, morally wrong" but that he has no problem with women having access to it.
Affirming the implication made by the US Bishop's conference last week in their statements on the controversy, which added up to a denunciation of American women as "immoral", Santorum, a Catholic, said he is in agreement with the Catholic Church's leadership that contraceptive use is "morally wrong".
Asked by Gregory if he thought the contraception debate had any relevance as a "public health issue", i.e. for women, Santorum tried to distinguish his religious conviction from his public policy views:
"What I've talked about it with respect is my Catholic faith… I agree with the Catholic Church on the issue of contraception. But as you know…that's a different position than I have with respect to public policy. You know, public policy, women should have access to contraception. I have no problem with that at all."
Gregory failed to follow up on the seeming inconsistency of Santorum's position, which position actually puts the former US Senator from Pennsylvania to the left of some Congressional Republicans, who are now pushing to eliminate the required insurance coverage mandate for contraception from any employer.
Since President Obama sought to compromise on the issue on Friday, which firmed up support for the White House position on the matter with left-leaning Catholics who had previously opposed the original policy, Republicans have found themselves in an increasingly difficult position trying to retain command of the message, when the majority of Americans, and particularly American women, will respond very negatively to any perceived attack on women's access to contraceptive services.
However, to split the discussion, as Santorum has done, into what is morally right, versus what is acceptable to conservatives as a public policy affirming what they have said is morally wrong, would likely open Republicans up to charges of trying to hypocritically triangulate a position that offends everyone while trying to please them.
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