'Rick Santorum backer suggests Bayer aspirin as a birth control method for women'

Rick Santorum backer suggests Bayer aspirin as a birth control method for women
Foster Friess caught MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell off-guard with colorful comment

By Rheana Murray / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, February 16, 2012, 5:36 PM




A chief backer of Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum stunned viewers when he made an off-the-wall comment about birth control Thursday.

Foster Friess, the primary supporter of a pro-Santorum super political action committee, suggested on MSNBC that women use Bayer aspirin as a contraceptive.

“This contraceptive thing, my gosh, it’s so expensive,” he told host Andrea Mitchell.

“Back in my days, they used Bayer aspirin for contraceptives. The gals put it between their knees and it wasn’t that costly.”

Friess’ inference that women can place a pill between their legs to keep from spreading them understandably sent some heads spinning.

Even Mitchell was visibly taken aback, saying she needed to catch her breath after the comment.

She later addressed it on Twitter:

“I’m still trying to get my head around this,” she wrote. “Tweeps, what should I have said?”

Her followers were sympathetic.

“You had no way of knowing he’d just stepped out of the 1940s. Time portals catch us all off guard. #aspiringate,” one wrote.

“Don’t ask how, but I just put some Bayer between my knees and now I’m pregnant,” another wrote.

Friess, whose comments came as a defense of Santorum’s stance against birth control, is a 71-year-old millionaire from Wyoming and a frequent contributor to conservative causes, USA Today reported.

As a close friend of Santorum, Friess even introduced the presidential hopeful before he spoke at last week’s Conservative Political Action Conference.

Santorum’s stance on birth control has been the eye of a media firestorm since a 2006 interview with the former Pennsylvania senator resurfaced.

"I think it's harmful to our society to have a society that says that sex outside of marriage is something that should be encouraged or tolerated, particularly among the young and it has I think we've seen very, very harmful long-term consequences to the society," he said.

"Birth control to me enables that and I don't think it's a healthy thing for our country."

Santorum has since said that women should have access to contraception, citing a difference between public policy matters and religious beliefs.

CeCe wrote:If they keep going at this rate it's gonna be a democratic landslide in November.

Shale wrote:

That's why I hope the Repugnicans choose Santorum to run.

BTW, I knew the aspirin joke. Maybe they need to teach journalists a course in Jokes in Historical Context. Then they'll know the punch line to "What's black and comes in a white box?"

CeCe wrote:Yeah I knew the aspirin thing too. What makes it even worse IMO is that it's a throwback to a much more sexist, archaic era where it was the woman who needed to keep her legs crossed, the woman who tempted the poor unsuspecting man. So the guy can't even get off the hook claiming it was just a joke.

Well, it was the woman who had the "gates of hell" between her legs.

(Oh, you would not want to mine the depths of my knowledge of 1950s mentality. It is why so many of us ran from it in the '60s)

Shale wrote:

Well, it was the woman who had the "gates of hell" between her legs.

(Oh, you would not want to mine the depths of my knowledge of 1950s mentality. It is why so many of us ran from it in the '60s)

Suzi wrote:Oh yes I do dearly hope Santorum is the republican nominee, if he is the republicans will be about to learn a lesson about what Americans really want in a president. I have faith that the average American voter is still sane and it is obvious that Santorum isn't.

Forgiveness Man wrote:This is news? lol Obama had a pastor who suggested that we deserved 9/11 and some guy who wants Santorum as president is somehow more connected to him than the guy Obama listened to for 20 years is to Obama? It really just goes to show how little genuine dirt these bigots can find on Rick.

Suzi wrote:The problem is Santorum has said things just as bad or worse. The inmates leading the insane asylum.

Suzi wrote:The problem is Santorum has said things just as bad or worse. The inmates leading the insane asylum.

Suzi wrote:I find the words from his own mouth objectionable as a woman. However I am Canadian and we have our own Santorum called Stephen Harper who is crazy as a loon just like Santorum.