Birth control mandate, abortion draw lines in presidential debate

Increasingly, these are the flashpoint issues on the campaign trail.

The Hill: Fight Over Birth Control Mandate Becomes Battle To Frame Debate
Democrats successfully shifted a debate over religious liberty to birth control last week, but opponents of the contraception mandate are trying to shift it right back. The political debate over the birth-control mandate in the health care law is largely a fight over how to frame the issue. To the left, it's about women's health; to the right, it's a question of religious freedom. And the battle between those two narratives is far from over (Baker, 2/22).

The Hill: Critics Say Obama Doesn't Speak For All Women On Birth Control
Two female attorneys -; Helen Alvaré, a law professor at George Mason University, and Kim Daniels, former counsel for the Thomas More Law Center -; have launched an open letter saying the White House's allies don't speak for all women. "Those currently invoking 'women's health' in an attempt to shout down anyone who disagrees with forcing religious institutions or individuals to violate deeply held beliefs are more than a little mistaken, and more than a little dishonest," the letter states. Hundreds of women from across the country have signed on (Baker, 2/21).

The Hill: Report: Santorum Supported Abortion Rights In Early Career
Rick Santorum supported abortion rights for most of his life before he ran for Congress and was a centrist on the issue in his early years in office, according to campaign documents obtained by The Huffington Post. The tone of the documents and his comments on the subject are a far cry from the culture warrior persona Santorum developed in his years in the Senate, and threaten to undercut his image as a purist conservative. He has long opposed any legalized abortion including in cases of rape and incest, and has attacked rival Mitt Romney for flip-flopping on the same issue (Joseph, 2/21).

The Associated Press: Santorum Makes Prenatal Testing A Campaign Issue
First birth control, now prenatal testing? Once again a fact of life for many American women has become a jarring issue in the presidential race. Republican candidate Rick Santorum is making free screenings for birth defects part of his attack on President Barack Obama's health care law. Santorum charges that the law requiring insurers to cover the tests is a way to encourage more women to have abortions that will "cull the ranks of the disabled in our society" (Cass, 2/22).

The Associated Press: Santorum Blasts Obama's Motives On Power, Abortion
Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator who suddenly is threatening Romney in his native state of Michigan, says Obama cares only about power, not the "interests of people." He says "Obamacare," the health care overhaul Obama enacted, includes a "hidden message" about the president's disregard for impaired fetuses, which might be aborted (Babington, 2/21).