First, the White House shocked the environmental community by overruling the Environmental Protection Agency and halting implementation of tough new smog standards until after the presidential election.

Then Obama endorsed his health secretary’s unprecedented decision to overrule scientists at the Food and Drug Administration and block over-the-counter sales of emergency contraceptives to minors — a move that prompted 14 senators this week to send a strongly worded letter to the administration demanding to know its “specific rationale and the scientific data” for the denial…

After the Plan B ruling, an unfavorable decision on contraceptive coverage will “make it harder” to draw a clear contrast for voters between Obama and the Republican nominee, warned Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America.

“It is a family dispute at the wrong time,” she said in an interview.