Now that Republican Senator Olympia Snowe is retiring, she can be a bit more critical of her own party’s insistence on assaulting women’s health.  Speaking at a Women’s Campaign Fund event, the moderate senator chided the GOP over trying to force women back into the 50’s when it comes to reproductive choice.

Via Huffington Post:

Just a few years ago, Snowe recalled, she stood with President Barack Obama as he signed the Fair Pay Act named after Ledbetter. The political debate today “comes to contraceptive coverage,” Snowe said.

“You know, it really is surprising, because I feel like it’s a retro-debate that took place in the 1950s,” Snowe said. “It’s sort of back to the future, isn’t it? And it is surprising in the 21st century we would be revisiting this issue. And Sandra Fluke should have been commended, not condemned, for her courage in expressing her own views and beliefs before members of Congress.”

Although Snowe is recognizing the inherent “retro” actions Republicans are taking when it comes to birth control, that still doesn’t seem to be stopping her from supporting Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown in his reelection campaign, despite his vocal support of an amendment that would let any religious employer deny birth control coverage in their insurance plans.