On Jan. 20 — after a protracted internal debate over the policy’s implications and lobbying from allies in the reproductive-rights community — Obama approved the mandate, to the horror of the conservative Dolan and even to more liberal Catholic allies such as Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne.

From the standpoint of the 2012 campaign, the debate over birth control, the stuff of the 1960s, has opened a dangerous electoral schism for Democrats, pitting Obama’s base of female supporters against the church and a GOP presidential field all too eager to seize on a perceived assault on religious liberty.

But it has also exposed surprisingly acute ideological, religious and gender divisions within a White House that prides itself on pulling together as a cohesive unit after a major decision, however sloppy the deliberation. And the fissures may have contributed to the slow, seemingly disorganized response to the escalating attacks, amplifying the damage from a fight that would have been politically perilous in any case.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Health & Medicine • --The 2009 American Health Care Reform Debate • Law & Legal Issues • Life Ethics • Marriage & Family • Religion & Culture • Science & Technology • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • Office of the President • President Barack Obama • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Roman Catholic

1. drummie wrote: The sad thing about all of this commentary is that nothing is ever said of doing what is right, on politically helpful or expedient.  Our President has proven himself to be no friend of either Christianity or the Constitution.  He serve the father of lies and evil, not the people of these United States of America. February 10, 4:00 pm | [comment link]

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