Poll: No swing for Obama among Catholics despite contraception debate

Catholics' view of President Obama did not significantly change despite a high-profile battle over whether the administration would require religiously affiliated employers to include contraception in employees' health insurance plans, according to a new poll from Gallup.

Obama's approval among Catholics dipped from 49 percent to 46 percent over the week, within the poll's margin of error and in line with general polling trends, Gallup found.

The Obama administration announced last Friday that they would not require religiously affiliated employers to provide the coverage, instead shifting the burden in those instances to insurance providers.

Obama argued that the "accommodation" would allay the First Amendment concerns of detractors — mostly Catholics, whose Church doctrine prohibits the use of birth control — by shifting the costs. Catholic leaders and politicians were split in their response, with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops blasting the plan as continued "government intrusion in the internal governance of religious institutions."

"In a nation dedicated to religious liberty as its first and founding principle, we should not be limited to negotiating within these parameters," the bishops said in a statement. "The only complete solution to this religious liberty problem is for HHS [the Health and Human Services Department] to rescind the mandate of these objectionable services."

But women's groups lauded the move, and a majority of Americans have supported the measure in recent polls. A study by the Guttmacher Institute found that 98 percent of sexually active Catholic women between 15-44 had used birth control, and a poll by Public Policy Polling on behalf of Planned Parenthood found that 56 percent of voters supported the president's plan, versus 37 percent who opposed it.

That reality could explain why the president held steady in the latest Gallup poll even among practicing Catholics. Obama polls an even 46 percent among both Catholics who attend church weekly and those who do not.

That 46 percent is just a point below the president's 47 percent national approval rating.

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