Obama: GOP on women's health like 'being in a time machine'

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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/la-pn-obama-womens-issues-20120427,0,4760037.story

By Michael A. Memoli

5:09 p.m. CDT, April 27, 2012

WASHINGTON -- President Obama on Friday castigated the Republican Partyfor what he said were dated views on women's health issues, saying the recent debate over contraceptives was "like being in a time machine." snip

"Republicans in Congress were going so far as to say an employer should be able to have a say in the healthcare decisions of its female employees," Obama said. "I'm always puzzled by this -- this is a party that says it prides itself on being rabidly anti-regulation. These are folks who claim to believe in freedom from government interference and meddling. But it doesn't seem to bother them when it comes to a woman's health."

Obama also pointed to the efforts in state legislatures to place new restrictions on abortion, singling out Virginia's attempt, ultimately unsuccessful, to require an invasive ultrasound before a woman could have the procedure. He paraphrased the Republican governor of Pennsylvania, who said a woman who didn't like the procedure could "close your eyes."

"It's appalling. It's offensive. It's out of touch," he said. "Women across America aren't closing their eyes. As long as I'm president, I won't either. The days the days of male politicians controlling the healthcare decisions of our wives and our mothers and our daughters and our sisters -- that needs to come to an end."