GOP Rep compares contraception coverage mandate to 9/11, Pearl Harbor

One Republican lawmaker sees August 1, 2012 the day the contraception coverage mandate goes into effect, as one of the darkest days in modern American history.

Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Kelly compared August 1, 2012 to the attacks on Pearl Harbor and the September 11 in a press conference on Capitol Hill Wednesday.

“I know in your mind you can think of times when America was attacked. One is December 7th, that’s Pearl Harbor day. The other is September 11th, and that’s the day of the terrorist attack,” Kelly said, according to NBC. “I want you to remember August the 1st, 2012, the attack on our religious freedom. That is a day that will live in infamy, along with those other dates.”

Beginning Wednesday, private insurers are required to cover contraceptive services in new plans without a co-pay as mandated by the health care reform law. To mark the occasion, several Republicans held a press conference, including several freshman members like Kelly. For months, Republicans have claimed that the mandate is a violation of religious freedom — a debate which played out in Congress earlier this year when Democrats claimed Republicans were waging a “war on women” and Republicans responded that the mandate constituted a “war on religion.”

The rest of the Derp: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/mike-kelly-contraception-911-pearl-harbor.php?ref=fpblg