Poll: Catholics support new contraception policy 2-1

I wonder how big of a hole would be blasted into Christian-Right groups’ dire warnings about mass Catholic outrage over the Obama administration’s new birth control mandate if they came to hear how the very people they’re trying to rile up actually disagree with them by a roughly 2-1 margin:

Catholic voters largely approve of President Obama's new policy on contraception, according to a poll released Saturday by groups that support the policy.

Supporters say the poll shows that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and congressional Republicans, who oppose the new policy as an affront to religious freedom, are out of step with the public. The new survey was conducted Friday evening, after Obama announced new "accommodations" for some religious employers.

According to the poll, 57 percent of Catholic voters — and 59 percent of Catholic women — support the mandate Obama outlined Friday. Under the new policy, women who work for institutions like Catholic hospitals and universities can obtain birth control from their insurance company without a co-pay, but their employers don't have to include contraception in their healthcare plans.

Of course, the reasonable guess is that dogmatic blowhards will continue to claim to speak for all Catholics in happy contradiction to all the evidence indicating how deeply they have their heads lodged up their own posteriors. After all, if anyone can be trusted to know what’s best for the masses, especially when it comes to healthcare policy, it’s religious-conservative groups, right?

(via ThinkProgress)

Tags: Catholics • Catholicism • Obama administration • birth control • birth control mandate • contraception • Christian-Right • US Conference of Catholic Bishops • USCCB • Public Policy Polling