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Abortion, birth control grab political spotlight

Karen Handel speaks during an interview in Atlanta Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012. Handel announced earlier her resignation as vice president for public policy for Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast-cancer charity. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at a campaign rally in Loveland, Colo., Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney listens during his daily news briefing at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Feb., 7, 2012. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

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By CHARLES BABINGTON, The Associated Press Updated 6:31 PM Tuesday, February 7, 2012

DAYTON, Ohio — Political turmoil over abortion and birth control spread suddenly on Tuesday. A high-ranking official resigned from the Komen breast-cancer charity after its backtracking treaty with Planned Parenthood, and Republican presidential candidates blistered the Obama administration for a recent ruling on Catholic hospitals and contraception.

The White House made a point of declaring it wanted to ease the concerns of church-affiliated employers — many would be required to provide birth control coverage to their workers under the new rules — but there was no word on how those concerns might be addressed.

The two-track drama pumped new furor into longstanding disputes that sometimes take a backseat in political campaigns because the lines are so familiar and firmly drawn. Last week's Komen-Planned Parenthood dispute stirred many women's groups that support legal abortion. And the Obama ruling touched a nerve with moderate Roman Catholics who support contraceptives but also defend their church's right to run its hospitals and other institutions according to religious convictions.

Republican presidential candidates pounced on what they considered a blunder by President Barack Obama. They believe his administration's ruling will alienate moderate Catholic voters who could prove crucial in November in Ohio, Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

There also could be political repercussions from the Susan G. Komen for the Cure controversy. The breast-cancer charity, facing fierce criticism, mostly from women's groups, quickly overturned its decision to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood is a major provider of abortions, but it also screens women for breast cancer and other health problems.

In Atlanta, Karen Handel, a Komen vice president who played a role in the fund cutoff decision, resigned Tuesday. A Republican who ran for governor in Georgia, Handel was seen by some as an example of what they felt was an increasing tendency by Komen to bring partisan politics into the charity's decisions.

"I am deeply disappointed by the gross mischaracterizations of the strategy, its rationale and my involvement in it," Handel said in her resignation letter.

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, for his part, said he supported Komen's original decision to stop funding Planned Parenthood.

The arguments came as the GOP presidential hopefuls campaigned in several states and Republicans voted in Colorado and Minnesota. Each candidate tried to take advantage of the unusually intense focus on reproductive issues.

Romney, a Mormon, decried Obama's "assault on religion," telling Colorado voters the new contraception ruling was "a real blow ... to our friends in the Catholic faith."

Newt Gingrich, a Catholic, told Ohio Republicans, "There has been a lot of talk about the Obama administration's attack on the Catholic Church."

But Gingrich, who is struggling to narrow Romney's lead in the GOP nomination race, also turned his fire on the former Massachusetts governor. "Governor Romney insisted that Catholic hospitals give out abortion pills, against their religious belief, when he was governor," Gingrich said.

Former Sen. Rick Santorum, also a strong anti-abortion advocate and a Catholic, made similar remarks about Romney in a written article Tuesday.

As governor, Romney enforced a law that required all Massachusetts hospitals, including Catholic ones, to provide emergency contraception to rape victims. Some Catholics say the so-called morning-after pill is a form of abortion. Romney said he did not support the law, which passed despite his veto. But he also said at the time, "My personal view, in my heart of hearts, is that people who are subject to rape should have the option of having emergency contraception or emergency contraception information."

Romney may have given Gingrich and Santorum a new opening Tuesday when he likened "morning-after pills" to "abortive pills." Romney supported legalized abortion when he ran for Senate and governor in Massachusetts, but he now opposes it.

The White House and Obama's re-election campaign endured another day of sharp debate over the contraception ruling, which falls under preventive-health measures attached to the 2010 health care overhaul. Church-affiliated employers' health insurance plans will have to cover birth control, regardless of the institutions' religious principles. Churches are not covered by the rule, but affiliated employers such as colleges and hospitals are.

The ruling follows the Institute of Medicine's recommendation to treat birth control as preventive health because it promotes maternal and child health by allowing women to space their pregnancies. For religious-affiliated employers, the requirement will take effect in mid-2013.

Workplace health plans will have to cover all forms of contraception approved by the Food and Drug Administration, including the birth control pill, implantable devices, sterilization and the morning-after pill. There is no mandate to cover abortions.

Last Sunday, Catholic bishops in more than 140 dioceses issued denunciations of the decision that were read at weekend Masses.

Sister Carol Keehan, head of the Catholic Health Association — which supported Obama's 2010 health care law — summed up the feeling of some moderate Catholics who say political analysts are missing the point.

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