Huckabee 'libido' comment chilling

Women have many choices when it comes to practicing safe sex. According to data released Thursday by the CDC, 99% of sexually active women have used at least one contraceptive method during their lifetime. Here's a look at a variety of birth control methods and how they each work.

Oral contraceptives were approved in 1960 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In the past 50 years, there have been many variations of the pill, but the basic concept is the same: A woman takes a daily pill, usually one that comes with a combination of an estrogen and a progestin. The hormones prevent ovulation and thicken a woman's cervical mucus, blocking sperm from fertilizing an egg. As with all medication, hormonal contraceptives like the pill can have negative side effects. But hormonal contraceptives can also have positive side effects, such as less severe menstrual cramps.

Implants are flexible, matchstick-size devices that are surgically inserted into a woman's arm. They slowly release the hormone progestin into the body, which prevents a woman's ovaries from releasing eggs. The protection lasts up to several years. Norplant, the first marketed contraceptive implant, made its debut in the United States in 1993. It involved six rods implanted into the arm at one time. It was discontinued in the U.S. in 2002, but is still used successfully in other countries. Implanon, which was approved by the FDA in 2006, uses only one rod and lasts up to three years.

NuvaRing, introduced in the United States in 2002, is a small, flexible ring inserted into the vagina. It releases estrogen and progestin, the same pregnancy-preventing hormones found in most variations of the birth-control pill.

The Today Sponge is made of plastic and foam and is inserted into the vagina. Introduced in1983, the sponge was pulled from the market after fears of toxic shock but returned in 2005 following design changes. The sponge contains spermicide and can be inserted before sex, like a diaphragm, to prevent pregnancy. Spermicide prevents sperm from moving and the sponge itself blocks sperm from entering the uterus.

An intrauterine device, or IUD, is a T-shaped flexible device that's inserted by a doctor into a woman's uterus. There are two brands available in the U.S. -- ParaGard and Mirena. Both devices work to block the sperm from attaching to the egg and change the lining of the uterus, which may keep a fertilized egg from attaching. The Mirena IUD also releases progestin, simliar to an arm implant, and prevents pregnancy for five years. The ParaGard IUD is effective for 12 years.

The Ortho Evra birth control patch was released in 2002. It is a small piece of beige plastic that sticks to the body and releases pregnancy-preventing hormones through the skin. Popular areas to stick the patch include the torso and the arm. A woman must change her patch once a week, for three weeks in a row. That is to be followed by one week without a patch before starting the cycle again.

Depo-Provera, an injection form of birth control, was introduced in 1969, but didn't become available in the United States until 1992. One shot of Depo-Provera lasts for three months. Like "the pill," it releases hormones that prevent ovulation and block sperm from fertilizing eggs. But it doesn't contain estrogen like some other forms of birth control, including versions of the pill. That makes it a popular option for women who can't take estrogen and women who are breastfeeding.

Emergency contraception, frequently referred to as the morning-after pill, can be taken to prevent pregnancy up to five days after unprotected sex. There are three brands found in the U.S. -- Plan B One-Step, ella and Next Choice. All three work to prevent the ovaries from releasing eggs and by thickening a woman's cervical mucus. The morning-after pill can also thin uterus lining, which could prevent a fertilized egg from attaching. It is different from the RU-486, which induces abortion.

• Cecile Richards: Mike Huckabee caused uproar with clueless comments about birth control


• He said women told they need goverrnment "Uncle Sugar" to pay for their birth control


• Richards: His words show political agenda to deny women contraceptive coverage


• Richards: Birth control key in women's lives, health. Next election, issue will be in balance

Editor's note: Cecile Richards is president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund

(CNN) -- Former Arkansas Governor and presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee sparked outrage across the country this week for his offensive remarks about women and birth control. But the real problem isn't what he says -- it's what he and too many other politicians believe, and it's the policies they would advance if they have the chance.

In a speech to the Republican National Committee, Huckabee said that it was wrong to give women access to no-co-pay birth control under the Affordable Care Act -- that by doing so, women were being told "they are helpless without Uncle Sugar coming in and providing for them a prescription each month for birth control because they cannot control their libido or their reproductive system without the help of government." Of the thousands of types of medical care covered by insurance companies -- somehow he and a lot of other politicians have focused like a laser on birth control -- on taking coverage away from women.

Indeed, Huckabee's remarks were no "gaffe," as too many pundits have called them. This is a speech he's made before, and his remarks are a look inside the playbook of politicians who appear to have no idea how birth control works and why it's so important to millions of women as a basic, preventive health care. They ignore the fact that women use birth control for a whole host of medical reasons -- and that's their business, not Mike Huckabee's.

In Huckabee's vision, every boss in America would be empowered to decide whether his or her female employees should have access to birth control the way they do for any other prescription medication.

Huckabee is joining a battle being waged cross the country.

Over 40 for-profit companies have filed lawsuits against the birth control benefit of the Affordable Care Act, and the Supreme Court will hear arguments in two of those cases in March. If the court rules in favor of the for-profit companies, employers for the first time ever could have the right to dictate to their employees the type of health care they may have access to.

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Meanwhile, 20 state legislatures have moved to exempt certain employers and insurers from allowing their employees access to birth control without a co-pay. In Kansas, pharmacists are allowed to refuse to fill a prescription for birth control if they have a moral objection -- even if there's no other pharmacist in the area that a woman can go to instead. And while the states are individually waging separate battles, on the national front the U.S. House of Representatives approved an amendment a few months ago to roll back the birth control benefit.

The politicians behind these moves disregard how important birth control is for women and families. It allows women to take control of their health and economic security and to take personal responsibility for their family planning decisions. Many women also need birth control for medical reasons. For example, it can help relieve painful menstrual cramps, and help avert infertility by addressing the symptoms of endometriosis.

Access to birth control is also an economic issue. Until now, the cost has been expensive, with many women paying an average of $600 a year -- but sometimes much more -- for contraceptive protection. The Affordable Care Act enables 27 million women to receive their prescription birth control without a co-pay. Birth control also allows women, who make up nearly two-thirds of minimum-wage workers, to remain in the labor force.

For a woman working for minimum wage at a retail store, or for tips at a restaurant, the birth control benefit is tremendously important. For many women, it means the difference between taking birth control regularly and not being able to -- between getting pregnant and not getting pregnant.

As we look toward the midterm elections later this year, it's increasingly clear that access to birth control will be on the ballot. Mike Huckabee's remarks this week underscore what's at stake -- and why women will not allow out-of-touch politicians to take us back to the 1950s.

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Cecile Richards.