The Wonk Room

McCain: ‘I Don’t Know’ About Contraceptives

Earlier, ThinkProgress noted Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) nervous reply to a question about why his top adviser erroneously suggested that he supported requiring insurance companies to cover prescription birth control. Looking confused, McCain replied:

I’ll look at my voting record on it … I’ll be glad to look at it and get back to you as to why … I don’t know enough about it to give you an informed answer because I don’t recall the vote, I’ve cast thousands of votes in the Senate.

Watch It:

Don’t expect McCain to “get back to you” anytime soon. In 2007, McCain similarly admitted to reporters that he was “not informed” about “whether I support government funding for them [contraceptives] or not,” and promised to “find out.” In the same interview McCain also expressed doubts about the effectiveness of condoms:

More questions: Do condoms stop sexually transmitted disease?

A long pause.

A stern look.

“I’ve never gotten into these issues or thought much about them,” he said, almost crying uncle.

McCain’s unfamiliarity with contraceptives has caused him to support regressive reproductive policies. McCain voted against requiring insurance companies to cover prescription contraception in both 2003 and 2005 and has consistently opposed expanding access to contraception. In fact, according to NARAL, McCain “has never cosponsored or supported legislation that would prevent unintended pregnancy or reduce the need for abortion“:

- Voted to “terminate the Title X family-planning program, which provides millions of women with health care services ranging from birth control to breast cancer screenings.”

- Voted in favor of “the domestic gag rule, which would have prohibited federally funded family-planning clinics from providing women with access to full information about their reproductive-health options.”

- Voted for an “amendment to prohibit distribution of condoms, contraceptives or drugs financed by federal aid without parental consent.”

- Voted to establish an “abstinence-only” program “that censors information about birth control.”