Adele M. Stan writes for AlterNet: "It says quite a lot about the state of the Republican Party that the right-wing extremist Rick Santorum -- a politician so despised by his own Pennsylvania constituents that he lost his U.S. Senate seat by an 18-point margin -- is now the frontrunner for the GOP presidential nomination."

Irin Carmon writes for Salon: "Unable, apparently, to convince the public that women having sex without 'consequences' is inherently bad for society, conservatives have taken to claiming that increasing access to contraception won't actually prevent abortions. They're wrong."

As the contraception controversy continues, NOW President Terry O'Neill joins Ed Schultz on The Ed Show to discuss the right-wing making women's health political.

The editors of The New Republic write: "When Foster Friess, the billionaire backer of Rick Santorum's presidential campaign, suggested yesterday that women should simply place aspirin between their legs rather than use contraception, it was the latest salvo of a culture war that has been raging for months."

Will the GOP War on Women hurt them at the polls in November? NOW President Terry O'Neill talks about the rift between the GOP and women voters and the latest on the Republican War on Women's health with MSNBC's Ed Schultz and Rep. Jan Schakowsky.

NOW President Terry O'Neill joins Rev. Al Sharpton and Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney on Politics Nation to discuss a Congressional hearing about President Obama's birth control mandate that excluded women.

Dahlia Lithwick writes for Slate: "This week, the Virginia state Legislature passed a bill that would require women to have an ultrasound before they may have an abortion."

NOW President Terry O'Neill speaks with Rev. Al Sharpton on Politics Nation about two recent anti-abortion bills introduced in Virginia. One requires doctors to perform intrusive ultrasounds before a woman can have an abortion and the other, a "personhood bill" that defines life beginning at contraception.

Sara Robinson writes on AlterNet: "[D]idn't we all honestly think that by 2012, contraception would be a non-issue, and Congress wouldn't make the mistake of leaving women out of conversations like this one?"

Joan Walsh writes on Salon: "[M]aybe the best argument on behalf of the Obama administration's position comes from a very unlikely source . . . Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. In two different decisions, the conservative Catholic Scalia has sided with the court majority in finding that religious teachings can't justify religious employers -- or employees -- failing to comply with labor law."

Anna Holmes write for The Washington Post: "Of course, the outrage isn't just about Planned Parenthood, or even Komen, arguably the most high-profile of American breast cancer charities. . . . what the chorus of critics is pushing back against is broader in scope: an emphasis on optics over integrity, crass commercialism and the infantilization of the female experience into something fashionable, cheerful or sexy."

Amanda Marcotte writes on Slate.com: "After two solid weeks of Republicans rapidly escalating attacks on contraception access under the banner of "religous freedom," Obama finally announced what the White House is proposing an accomodation of religiously affiliated employers who don't want to offer birth control coverage as part of their insurance plans. In those situations, the insurance companies will have to reach out directly to employees and offer contraception coverage for free, without going through the employer."

Janice G. Raymond writes for Truthout: "Dominique Strauss-Kahn's (DSK) marauding sexual behavior has passed out of the news cycle. However, in the aftermath of DSK's alleged rape of a Guinean hotel maid in New York and subsequent accusations of his rapacious pattern of behavior in France, more information about his actions has emerged."

NOW Action VP Erin Matson's letter appears on RH Reality Check: "As a graduate of Georgetown University and advocate for women, I write to express my horror with the actions of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on the matter of contraceptive coverage for students, employees and dependents of religiously-affiliated institutions, including my beloved alma mater."

NOW President Terry O'Neill interviews with MSNBC's Thomas Roberts about the Susan G. Komen Foundation funding controversy with Planned Parenthood, and the steps the foundation must take to save face.