A widely read “Fact Checker” blog is calling out Democrats for their rhetoric in the wake of the Supreme Court’s “Hobby Lobby” decision on contraception and company health plans.
The court said closely held corporations could refuse to insure types of birth control they object to on moral grounds, even though an Obamacare regulation requires it.
Democrats have condemned the ruling, “but in some cases the rhetoric has gotten way ahead of the facts,” Glenn Kessler wrote in The Washington Post.
He called out House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, for her remarks on the all-male majority in the opinion.
“The five guys who start determining what contraceptions are legal,” she said in her remarks, even though the decision says women have a constitutional right to obtain contraceptives on their own.
A spokesman for the leader told Mr. Kessler that she misspoke, and the point was that the court had limited access.
Mr. Kessler took issue with other Democrats who suggested women would need a “permission slip” to gain contraceptives, because the real issue is whether their employers’ health plans would pick up the cost.
He also noted that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, said the majority opinion was written by “five white men,” although Justice Clarence Thomas is black.
A spokesman for Mr. Reid noted the leader made a mistake, and “he knew it right away.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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