sinidentidades:

More Catholics support contraception coverage than other Americans

Catholics in the U.S. are more likely that other Americans say that employers should be required to provide insurance that covers free contraception, according to a recent poll.

A survey released by the Public Religion Research Institute on Tuesday found that 58 percent of Catholics think businesses should be required to provide health plans with free birth control, compared with 55 percent of all Americans who agreed with the requirement. At 38 percent, white evangelical protestants were the least likely to agree free contraception should be provided by employers.

Religiously unaffiliated Americans, at 68 percent, were the most likely say that company health plans should cover birth control for free.

Among political parties, 73 percent of Democrats and 51 percent of independents said health insurance should include free birth control. But only 36 percent of Republicans agreed with that point of view.

The poll also uncovered a significant gender gap. Overall, 62 percent of women said contraception should be provided at no cost, while only 47 percent of men thought it should be a requirement.

I find this fascinating, especially because I have a good friend who’s a Catholic seminarian, and he openly states that he believes that anyone who believes in contraception (or gay marriage, for that matter) cannot be Catholic. I’m guessing that there is going to be an increasingly vicious split between the laity and the Ecclesiarchy on that point.