Python and OpenSSL version reference issue

Trying to resolve an OpenSSL version issue i'm having.

it seems that i have three different versions of OpenSSL on my MAC.

1. Python 2.7.11 has version 0.9.7m: python -c "import ssl; print ssl.OPENSSL_VERSION" OpenSSL 0.9.7m 23 Feb 2007

2. At the Terminal: openssl version OpenSSL 1.0.1h 5 Jun 2014

3. Recently Compiled / Installed: /usr/local/ssl/bin/openssl OpenSSL> version OpenSSL 1.0.2h 3 May 2016 OpenSSL>

i recently upgraded my MAC OSX to 10.11.5. in the process, caused an issue for previously working python scripts. below is the error message snippet:

Python Error Message: "You are linking against OpenSSL 0.9.8, which is no longer " RuntimeError: You are linking against OpenSSL 0.9.8, which is no longer support by the OpenSSL project. You need to upgrade to a newer version of OpenSSL.

Any recommendations on resolving this issue would be greatly appreciated. what i'd like is to have Python reference the OpenSSL version 1.0.2h vs the outdated version 0.9.7m.

i've tried installing Python and OpenSSL many times using various post / blogs for guidance without any luck.

thanks.