urllib2 for HTTPS/SSL

[Kylotan]

The documentation on this module doesn't seem very clear to me...
there's an 'HTTPSHandler' object documented, but it just lists the
"https_open" function without giving an example of its use. And the
urllib2 examples page shows a totally different way to create an HTTPS
connection (just by making a Request object). There is a lot of talk
about deriving new classes, but is that necessary if I just want to
make HTTPS GET requests?

I have no idea how (or if) to use the 'HTTPSHandler' object, or what
the correct way for me to request an SSL connection is. Does anybody
have any hints? And additionally, is there any chance of the official
documentation on this useful-looking module being improved?

K.