WASHINGTON — Americans overwhelmingly regard the debate over President Barack Obama’s policy on employer-provided contraceptive coverage as a matter of women’s health, not religious freedom, rejecting Republicans’ rationale for opposing the rule. More than three-quarters say the topic shouldn’t even be a part of the political debate.
More than six in 10 respondents to a Bloomberg National Poll — including almost 70 percent of women — say the issue involves health care and access to birth control, according to the survey taken March 8-11.
That conflicts with Republican presidential candidates Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney, who say Obama is violating religious freedom by requiring employers — including those with religious objections to birth control — to provide a way for women to obtain contraceptive coverage as part of their insurance plans.
The results suggest the Republican candidates’ focus on contraception is out of sync with the U.S. public. Seventy-seven percent of poll respondents say birth control shouldn’t be a topic of the political debate, while 20 percent say it should.
“These candidates are talking to a relatively small subset even among Republicans,” said J. Ann Selzer, of Des Moines, Iowa-based Selzer & Co., who conducted the telephone poll of 1,002 respondents. “They may have the feeling, and their polls may be showing them, that this is a way in and this is a wedge issue within the party, but this does not dovetail with the views of the majority in the U.S.”
More than half of those interviewed also say radio host Rush Limbaugh, who called a female law student testifying publicly in favor of birth-control coverage a “slut” and “prostitute,” should be fired based solely on those comments.
Republicans are more likely than respondents generally to see the controversy over contraception as an issue of religious liberty, with 54 percent viewing it that way, compared with 42 percent who say it was a matter of health-care access.
Seven of nine Democrat Supreme Court Justices ruled that Dred Scott couldn’t sue for freedom. Being in the majority doesn’t mean you are correct. And kudos to the MSM for neanderthalizing the issue into (a) women shouldn’t have access to birth control or (b) they should have access and someone else should pick up the tab. We have the right to bear arms but shouldn’t expect our employers, towns, states, or someone else to brunt the cost for obtaining firearms.
And yet how outraged you would become if your health insurance policy stopped paying for your Viagra, eh Chubby?
Once again–Viagra is NOT comparable to contraception. Just because they both are connected to sex does not make them an equivalent comparison.
An equivalent comparison might be covering Viagra but not covering medical treatment for women who experience pain during intercourse due to an underlying medical issue. But, as far as I know, both types of treatment for these sexual dysfunctions are covered.
Dred Scott was over 150 years ago, when neither the democrats nor the future republicans even remotely resembled the parties of today. If you have to reach back that far in American history to excuse the behavior of politicians in the 21st century, you are indeed reaching. The majority of Americans do see it as an attempt to restrict women’s rights, and that counts more.
When the conversation is about health care one person’s morals shouldn’t be the litmus test for including any given procedure or medication in the package. That is allowing one person to impose their morals on another person. When we start injecting religious morals into the state then we stand on a slippery slope that includes middle eastern theocracies and the taliban.
The issue isn’t about healthcare. That is where all you sheep who believe this have been lead by White House. It is sad most of Americans believe this. Following the heard to the slaughter.
You’re correct in that the issue isn’t about health care, it’s about freedom of religion which also means freedom from religion. I don’t care what religion you profess to have, just KEEP IT OUT OF MY FACE!!
The government regulates healthcare, NOT the churches. Period.
The majority is saying it is. That’s what the article is about.
In a continuing war on women from the right wing nuts, Arizona is considering HB2625, which would allow employers to fire women who use birth control. In spite of the fact it would violate the right to privacy and non- discriminatory laws, republicans are pushing ahead with this and many other big government efforts to invade the bedroom. It seems they are only concerned with restricting government rules and regulations when it comes to big money supporters.
That’s funny: Republicans are losing on birth control. As if Republicans are even debating about birth control. As if the public has been generally supportive of the Catholic position on contraception. The only Republican candidate who has a moral objection to birth control is Santorum–and he lives according to his morality. He is not proposing to outlaw contraception.
No matter how people are viewing this issue, the facts are clear. Women have access to contraception and if their insurance is not covering it, they have access to other inexpensive means to obtain it. So this is not about denying anyone access to contraception. It is exactly what opponents say it is. This is an issue of religious liberty: can the government force you to purchase a product that violates your conscience?
And constitutional protections are in place to protect against the majority opinion. A majority of Americans have no problem with contraception–even a majority of Catholics have no problem. But to force those who do believe fully in their church’s teaching on this issue to purchase and provide contraception through the health plan they offer employees–it’s a violation that we all ought to oppose. Next time it may be your beliefs that you are forced to violate, and god help you if your belief is not supported by the majority.