Poll: Majority of women voters giving Hobby Lobby serious side-eye over "religious liberty" claim

A strong majority of women voters in the U.S. oppose letting corporations opt out of providing birth control. Duh

Published March 24, 2014 8:47PM (EDT)

                         (AP/Tony Gutierrez)
(AP/Tony Gutierrez)

A strong majority of women voters in the United States oppose letting corporations opt out of providing comprehensive contraceptive coverage to their employees, according to a new poll released Monday.

Basically, most women in America are looking at Hobby Lobby like this right now:

The poll, conducted by Hart Research Associates and commissioned by Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Women's Law Center, surveyed women between the ages of 18 and 55, and confirmed what is pretty much common sense at this point: Most people view what Hobby Lobby is trying to do in the name of "religious liberty" as an extreme overstep.

More from the poll:

  • Fully 72 percent of women voters say that corporations should not be allowed to exempt themselves from obeying a law if they feel the law goes against their religious beliefs (including 79 percent of Democrats, 72 percent of Independents, 50 percent of Republicans)
  • Fully 93 percent of women voters favor the requirement that health plans cover preventive health services with no additional copays (including: 96 percent of Democrats, 95 percent of Independents, 87 percent of Republicans)
  • And more than four in five (81 percent) women voters agree with the policy that prescription birth control should be covered as a preventive health service with no additional copay (including: 92 percent of Democrats, 83 percent of Independents, 63 percent of Republicans, 79 percent of Catholics)

"Overwhelmingly, the women who are most likely to be affected by the Hobby Lobby decision say that corporations should not be entitled to exempt themselves from the requirement to cover prescription birth control, even on religious grounds," said Geoff Garin, president of Hart Research Associates. "As a matter of principle, these women don’t believe corporations should be able to use religion to pick and choose which laws they will obey."


By Katie McDonough

Katie McDonough is Salon's politics writer, focusing on gender, sexuality and reproductive justice. Follow her on Twitter @kmcdonovgh or email her at kmcdonough@salon.com.

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Aca Birth Control Health Care Hobby Lobby Reproductive Health Reproductive Rights Women's Health