Will GOP support for over-the-counter contraception woo women?

Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., who’s running for one of his state’s Senate seats, announced his support for over-the-counter oral contraceptives in a campaign commercial last week. The new policy as a part of a party-wide attempt to draw female voters.

Gardner is one of several GOP Senate candidates to announce support for the policy during a midterm election season that could see Senate control swing to the Republican’s favor. Candidates Mike McFadden in Minnesota, Ed Gillespie in Virginia, and Rep. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., also have announced their support.

“Getting the politics out of contraception will improve the lives of women all over the country,” Gardner said in a campaign news release. “Far too many women across the country still lack access to common forms of oral contraception, and that is simply inexcusable. If a new generation of senators puts partisanship aside, we can protect the liberties of women to have easy access to affordable oral contraception at the same time we protect the rights of those with conscience objections.”

Despite the new tactic, Republicans have some work ahead to draw female voters, according to a poll conducted by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and NBC News between July 30 and Aug. 3. The poll found that men prefer a Republican-controlled Congress by 17 percentage points. But women prefer a Democratic-controlled Congress by 14 percentage points.

Despite the challenge, even a small increase in the number of women voting for the Republican ticket could have a big effect.

“Sophisticated campaigns are learning from past mistakes and going on offense on issues we used to cede,” GOP consultant Rob Jesmer told the WSJ. “If the GOP fights women to a draw, we are going to win in a lot of places.”

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal became one of the first prominent Republicans to embrace over-the-counter contraceptives when he announced his position in a 2012 op-ed published in the WSJ. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) had just announced its support for selling oral contraceptives without a prescription.

“As a conservative Republican, I believe that we have been stupid to let the Democrats demagogue the contraceptives issue and pretend, during debates about healthcare insurance, that Republicans are somehow against birth control,” Jindal wrote. “It’s a disingenuous political argument they make.” Jindal argued women should be free to purchase birth control without involvement from the government or pharmaceutical companies.

Gardner made a similar case against the contraceptive policy proposed by his opponent, incumbent Sen. Mark Udall, a Democrat. “Mark Udall’s plan is different,” Gardner said. “He wants to keep government bureaucrats between you and your healthcare plan. That means more politics and more profits for drug companies.”

Udall argued the ACOG recommended insurance still cover birth control for low income women. Planned Parenthood Action Fund called the Republican support for over-the-counter contraceptives “empty gestures,” claiming women would pay more for contraceptives under the proposal because insurance companies won’t cover over-the-counter drugs.

But offering oral contraceptives over the counter would lower prices by increasing competition, Jindal argued in his op-ed: “[Pharmaceutical companies] know that prices would be driven down if the companies had to compete in the marketplace once their contraceptives were sold over the counter.”