Obama Contraceptive Mandate Isn’t a “Women’s Issue”

Liberals have portrayed conservative resistance to the Obama Administration’s mandate that Catholic (and other religious) institutions have to supply free contraceptives to employees as part of a “war on women.”

Of course, in the eyes of liberals, “women” equals feminists.

But real world women typically don’t agree with feminists. This is certainly true of abortion, where women are either no different from men in their opinions or, in some of the best polls, a bit more opposed to abortion being legal.

But what about the contraceptive mandate?

A recent Gallup poll asks respondents “How closely are you following the news about whether religious-based employers should cover contraception for their employees as part of their health plans — very closely, somewhat closely, not too closely, or not at all?”

Then, respondents were asked “Based on what you know or have read about the matter, do you sympathize more with the views of – [ROTATED: religious leaders (or) the Obama administration]?”

Overall, 48 percent of the sample agreed with “religious leaders,” and 45 percent with the “Obama administration.”

But men and women gave virtually identical answers. 49 percent of men agreed with “religious leaders,” and 47 percent of women did. The two percent difference is within the margin of error.

While 39 percent of Catholics and 42 percent of Protestants agreed with the Obama Administration, 68 percent of people who professed no religion agreed with the Obama Administration. So the “war on women” seems to be, in reality, a war of irreligious people on religious people.