POLLS: Americans Support Contraception Rule

Guaranteeing Affordable Access to Birth Control is Popular

The right wing has launched an all-out war on the president’s plan to guarantee that women have affordable access to birth control.  Many Beltway pundits are engaging in fact-free debates that paint the decision as tremendously unpopular.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

Here’s a rundown of what the American people really think.

• 73 percent of Democrats agreethat employers should be required to offer health plans that cover contraception at no cost.
• 65 percent of millenials agreethat employers should be required to offer health plans that cover contraception at no cost.
• 62 percent of women agree that employers should be required to offer health plans that cover contraception at no cost.
• 58 percent of Catholics agree that employers should be required to offer health plans that cover contraception at no cost.
• 57 percent of all voters agree “that women employed by Catholic hospitals and universities should have the same rights to contraceptive coverage as other women.”
• 55 percent of ALL Americans agree that employers should be required to offer health plans that cover contraception at no cost.
• 53 percent of Catholic voters agree“that women employed by Catholic hospitals and universities should have the same rights to contraceptive coverage as other women.”

On the flipside:

• 40 percent of all voters say they are less likely to vote for Mitt Romney because he has pledged to eliminate the benefit that gives women birth control coverage without a co-pay.  Just 23 percent said it made them more likely to vote for him.
• 46 percent of Catholic voters say they are less likely to vote for Mitt Romney because he has pledged to eliminate the benefit that gives women birth control coverage without a co-pay.  Just 28 percent said it made them more likely to vote for him.

IN ONE SENTENCE: Contraception is an important, accepted, widely-used, and heretofore largely non-controversial aspect of modern life in America, which is why the president moved forward with plans to guarantee that all women have affordable access to birth control — a decision supported by a majority of Americans, including a majority of Catholics.

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