A new poll shows that, by a 20-percentage point margin, Americans oppose the HHS mandate the Obama administration put in place that requires religious employers to pay for abortion-causing drugs for their employees.
The new poll surveys both voters nationally and in the battleground state of Colorado. In both cases, voters rejected the mandate.
Voters were asked: Please tell me if you agree or disagree with the following statement: “It is wrong for the federal government to create new healthcare regulations that force employers to violate their religious convictions by providing abortion drugs and contraceptives to their employees.”
Nationally, 57 percent of Americans opposed the Obama HHS mandate, while 37 percent supported it. In Colorado, 55 percent opposed the mandate, while 40 percent supported it.
Looking at the chart below, virtually every breakdown of Americans nationally oppose the Obama HHS mandate, except Americans who say the country is moving in the right direction, Obama supporters, people who think the media is fair and balanced, and black Americans.
The McLaughlin polling firm conducted the survey for the American Conservative Union and released the results October 3. This national survey of 1,000 likely general election voters was conducted on from September 30th – October 2nd, 2012. A subsequent oversample was conducted in Colorado to bring the total number of respondents up to 300.
This national survey of 1,000 likely general election voters has an accuracy of +/- 3.1% at a 95% confidence interval. The Colorado oversample of 300 likely general election voters has an accuracy of +/- 5.7% at a 95% confidence interval.
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Several other polls have shown the HHS mandate is not going over well with voters.
A May poll conducted by Marist College and released by the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic organization, shows a majority of Americans oppose the controversial Obama HHS mandate that forces religious groups to pay for drugs that may cause abortions.
March 2012 polling released by New York Times/CBS found Americans strongly oppose the new HHS mandate and favor a broad exemption for religious groups and employers who do not want to pay for birth control drugs or drugs that may cause abortions.
The survey revealed that, by a 50-41 percentage point margin, Americans say all employers should not have to cover birth control or potentially abortion-causing drugs while a larger 57-36 percentage point margin say religious employers should not be forced to provide coverage.
When asked “Should health insurance plans for all employees have to cover the full cost of birth control for female employees or should employers be able to opt out for moral or religious reasons?” even women favor the opt-out on a 46-44 percent plurality. That margin for women increased to a 53-38 margin for “religiously affiliated employers, such as a hospital or university.”
Men favored opting out by a 20 point margin (57 vs. 37), and that percentage jumped to a 25-point spread for an opt out when religious employers were mentioned.
A February Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found 38 percent of likely voters think health insurance companies should be required by law to cover the morning after pill without co-payments or other charges to the patient. But 50 percent of Americans disagreed and opposed this requirement while 13 percent are undecided.
“That’s less support than the 43% who believe health insurers should be required to provide free contraception in general,” pollster Scott Rasmussen noted. “Only 39% are opposed to the policy of providing free contraceptive services, 11 points lower than opposition to mandated coverage of the morning after pill.”
Looking deeper into the results of the new survey, Ramussen reports that female voters are only slightly more supportive than male voters of requiring health insurance companies to provide emergency contraception for free. Sixty-five percent (65%) of Democrats say health insurers should be required to provide the morning after pill for free. Seventy-two percent (72%) of Republicans and 54% of voters not affiliated with either party oppose such a policy.
Just 11% think requiring health insurance companies to cover the cost of the morning after pill will reduce the cost of health insurance. Forty-nine percent (49%) say the mandate will increase the cost of health insurance, while 31% believe it will have no impact.
That survey followed a previous Rasmussen poll asking, “The requirement to provide contraceptives for women violates deeply held beliefs of some churches and religious organizations. If providing such coverage violates the beliefs of a church or religious organization, should the government still require them to provide coverage for contraceptives?”
Some 50 percent of those polled said no while 39 percent of Americans agreed.
