GOP Supporters Spread Misinformation On Birth Control In Wisconsin

By Samantha Abernethy in News on Mar 27, 2012 10:00PM

Republican presidential candidates are now fighting over Wisconsin, and last weekend the organization Americans For Prosperity held a summit in Milwaukee featuring GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI). The "Defending The American Dream Summit" also featured a group handing out this literature, depicted above, that gives a skewed version of how birth control pills work. Think Progress writes:

The next room from where they spoke, however, featured a bevy of literature warning women about the supposed dangers of birth control and telling them that “Chastity is the best choice for single people.” One handout explained that contraception is unnecessary because “Saving yourself for your future spouse is guaranteed to prevent pregnancy before marriage.” Another answered the question “Is it safe?” with a simple “No.” The literature on emergency contraception warned that it could cause cancer before telling women simply, “Be good to yourself. Don’t use the morning-after pill.”

In the meantime, Santorum, Johnson and Ryan all continued to say the issue of contraception has nothing to do with women, despite the bevy of medical uses for the birth control that extend beyond prevention of pregnancy. For the record, this is how a birth control pill works to prevent pregnancy, and it is 99 percent effective when used properly. WebMD writes:

Hormonal contraceptives (the pill, the patch, and the vaginal ring) all contain a small amount of synthetic estrogen and progestin hormones. These hormones work to inhibit the body's natural cyclical hormones to prevent pregnancy. Pregnancy is prevented by a combination of factors. The hormonal contraceptive usually stops the body from releasing an egg from the ovary. Hormonal contraceptives also change the cervical mucus to make it difficult for the sperm to find an egg.

There you go. Science.