Religious groups back birth-control mandate

A coalition of 23 religious groups lent its support Wednesday to the Obama administration's new birth-control mandate, which is under fire from Republicans as an attack on religious freedom.

It's a jolt of support for the White House and follows new polling this week that said a majority of voters, including Catholics, support the new policy. Still, the issue has become a headache for the administration amid fierce attacks from the GOP and comments from campaign adviser David Axelrod that indicated the White House was open to a compromise.

The groups lending their support Wednesday include several explicitly pro-choice organizations, such as Catholics for Choice and Concerned Clergy for Choice. The coalition includes Christian, Jewish and Muslim organizations.

"We believe that women and men have the right to decide whether or not to apply the principles of their faith to family planning decisions, and to do so they must have access to services," the groups said. "The administration was correct in requiring institutions that do not have purely sectarian goals to offer comprehensive preventive health care."

The White House policy requires employers' healthcare plans to cover contraception without charging a co-pay. Churches are exempt, but other religiously affiliated institutions, such as Catholic hospitals and universities, are not.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has called the policy unconstitutional, and he pressed his criticism during a floor speech Wednesday. 

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