We released poll results this morning on how North Carolina residents feel about the health care mandate requiring employers to cover contraceptives for their female employees.
When it comes to using that as a litmus test for presidential candidates, birth control is low on the list, nationally.
Late today, Gallup released poll results saying that a candidate’s stance on birth control is the least important among six issues when it comes to voting. The 44% of registered voters who say that federal government policies on birth control will be important to their vote is substantially lower than the 73% to 80% of voters who say that about the five other issues tested in the poll.
More important are health care, unemployment, the budget deficit and national debt, international issues and gas prices.
There is a partisan difference, which may surprise you. Democrats are more likely to rate birth control policy as important than Republicans. Gallup attributes that to the support Democrats have from women. The higher level of importance for this issue among women could reflect the fundamental facts regarding women’s relationship to pregnancy and birth, as well as their reactions to the recent controversy.
— John Robinson
