Americans Oppose HHS Mandate Obama Admin Forcing Hobby Lobby to Comply With

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Dec 2, 2013   |   4:05PM   |   Washington, DC

The Supreme Court last week agreed to take a case from Christian-run business Hobby Lobby, which is suing the Obama administration over its mandate that it pay for birth control and abortion-causing drugs for its employees. But where do Americans stand on the issue of whether employers should be forced to comply with the mandate.

A new Rasmussen Reports poll shows they apparently agree.

“Half of voters now oppose a government requirement that employers provide health insurance with free contraceptives for their female employees,” Rasmussen reports today.

The poll found: “The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 38% of Likely U.S. Voters still believe businesses should be required by law to provide health insurance that covers all government-approved contraceptives for women without co-payments or other charges to the patient.

Fifty-one percent (51%) disagree and say employers should not be required to provide health insurance with this type of coverage. Eleven percent (11%) are not sure.”

The poll found support for Hobby Lobby ad other plaintiffs opposing the mandate has risen, with 46-43 percent opposing the HHS mandate in its 2012 survey.

“A plurality (48%) of voters also believes a business should be able to opt out of providing health insurance coverage for contraceptives if providing such coverage violates the religious beliefs of the business’ owner. Nearly as many (42%), however, think a business should not be allowed to opt out of this requirement for religious reasons,” Rasmussen indicated. “Voters favored allowing a business to opt out by a narrower 46% to 41% margin last December.”
From the poll:

Sixty-four percent (64%) of Democrats believe businesses should be required by law to provide health insurance coverage for their female employees that includes free contraceptives. Eighty percent (80%) of Republicans and 54% of voters not affiliated with either major party oppose this requirement.

Similarly, 72% of GOP voters and 53% of unaffiliateds think a business should be allowed to opt out of this mandate if providing such coverage violates the religious beliefs of the business owner. Sixty-seven percent (67%) of Democrats say a business should not be allowed to opt out for this reason.

Most men believe a business should be able to opt out; women are evenly divided. Voters under 40 are much stronger supporters of the contraceptive coverage requirement and much stronger opponents of opting out than their elders are.

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Sixty percent (60%) of pro-choice voters think a business should be required to provide health insurance coverage for its women employees that includes free contraceptives. Seventy-four percent (74%) of pro-life voters disagree.

The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on December 1, 2013 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.

Another poll last week found 59 percent of Americans disagree with the mandate.