Beneath the fear-mongering lies the more likely reason for the change of heart on the left. The bill was simply introduced by the wrong party.

If Democrats cede this issue to Republicans, they lose a major chit in their “war on women” narrative. For years, pro-choice groups have been peddling the charge that Republicans are against access to birth control. But it’s utterly (and provably) false.

For one, Gardner and Ayotte are not the first Republicans to champion OTC birth control. Gov. Bobby Jindal introduced the idea in 2012. For another, last year Gallup found that a whopping 88 percent of Republicans find birth control to be morally acceptable. To put this into greater perspective, more Republicans are OK with birth control than Democrats are okay with gay or lesbian relations (71 percent) or abortion (59 percent).

But rather than do the right thing for women, progressives are putting politics before women’s health. One hopes that when they actually read the bill, Planned Parenthood and others will change their tune. More likely? They’ll just come up with another reason to say no to something women want, but that they alone want to take credit for.