The original rule exempted only churches, synagogues or mosques, not faith-based hospitals, schools and charities or private employers with conscience-objections to contraception. On Friday, Obama said faith-based employers could defer to their insurance companies, but individual private employers remain under the mandate.
A Fox News poll of 1,100 registered voters, conducted Feb. 6-9 before Obama's Friday announcement, found 61% of Americans say employer health plans should be required to cover birth control for women, while 34% disagreed. Among women, two-thirds approved of the requirement.
It's a mixed bag for Obama. His support among women is stronger than among men — 48% of women approved of the job he's doing in the most recent Gallup Poll, compared to 44% of men. Some women's groups faulted him for negotiating with Catholic bishops over the issue and have criticized him in the past for other decisions, such as blocking over-the-counter sales of the "morning after" birth control pill to girls under 17.
Republicans say they have Obama on the defensive because of his perceived overreach into church affairs. The National Republican Congressional Committee is using his effort in a fundraising appeal.
"In a country founded on religious liberty, Democrats have now done the unthinkable," NRCC Executive Director Guy Harrison wrote. "Democrats have inserted themselves into your health care, and now they want to insert their values into your religion."
"We all know how hard the right wing will fight to restrict women's rights - it appears to be their No. 1 goal!" countered Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, chairwoman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. "The very ability of women to participate equally in our society is at stake on Election Day."
