FAMILY-FRIENDLY/REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH. Ezra is right, of course, to point out that Karen Kornbluh/Barack Obama's ideas about work-life balance are excellent. And Obama is right to link family planning to family-friendly policies. People are better able to take care of planned families, so the government has an active interest in supporting access to contraception and abortion. But if we think of a Venn diagram with "reproductive rights" in one circle and "feminist support for families" in the other other, there's a lot lot of overlap, but also some individual issues that we need to address. How does Obama feel about pharmacists refusing to give women contraceptives? Should that be legal? How about fighting the restriction against girls under 18 buying Plan B over the counter? Paid maternity leave is wonderful, but might be a small comfort to the woman who can't access reproductive health services before they're pregnant. I agree that Obama's instincts on these challenges seem rock-solid. But because he won't address these specific questions, how can I know for sure? --Dana Goldstein
