Of sex, sisters and Doctor Donald

The Little Sisters of the Poor have won the latest Supreme Court battle over contraception. The justices said they have the right to refuse to include birth control in their insurance policies. Actually, that was always the case. Under Obama-era regulations, the federal government took care of the issue when religious groups had ethical objections.

But the nuns didn’t want to let the government know what they weren’t doing. That counted as aiding and abetting the enemy, so they dug in their heels. No paperwork, no passing along information. And the Trump administration was happy to help them with the fight. Now, other employers with religious scruples or simply a yen to save money will leap on the bandwagon. An estimated 70,000 to 126,000 women will lose their current free contraceptive coverage.

You have to admit the anticontraception forces were brilliant to get the Little Sisters of the Poor as their star in court. It sounds a heck of a lot more sympathetic than the other part of the same decision, Trump v. Pennsylvania. Or almost any other religious institution. When I was growing up, I went to St. Antoninus Catholic school, and I’m sure the nuns there would have been happy to lend a hand to the anti-birth control fight — if anyone wanted a case named after a 15th-century archbishop of Florence.

“Our life’s work and great joy is serving the elderly poor, and we are so grateful that the contraceptive mandate will no longer steal our attention from our calling,” said Mother Loraine Marie Maguire of the Little Sisters.

“This is not over,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, head of Planned Parenthood.

Well, true that.

When it came to reproduction rights, nobody really knew where Donald Trump would be as president. In the campaign, he was asked if he would be willing to shut down the government to defund Planned Parenthood. He refused to answer “because I want to show unpredictability.”

Yes, Trump went with his strong suit — nobody really knew what his principles were. He was pretty clear on abortion — the religious right’s position ruled. But once he was elected, birth control services were hit hard, too.

The moral here is that reproduction issues are both very political and very personal. The fighting has been going on ever since. It’s hurt a lot of women who rely on low-cost services supported by government aid. Groups like Planned Parenthood refused to cooperate with the Trump rule that prohibited doctors from giving their patients information on abortion availability. A lot of nonprofits fell by the wayside. Only about half as many women can now use the federal government’s Title X family planning programs.

Trump’s never thought this issue through with an eye toward anything but his base. The bottom line is basically whether women should be able to have sex without risking pregnancy. There are a lot of people who say no. There are a lot more who think that’s one of the keys to living a happy, well-planned life.

Most Americans believe women should have the right to terminate a pregnancy, at least in the early months, but the whole idea makes a lot of people very uncomfortable. However, the country is, in general, a big fan of contraception. And easy access to birth control is the key for keeping the abortion rate low. Basically, the president and the Little Sisters have struck a big blow for unwanted pregnancies.