Contraception O.K. with us, Catholics tell Gallup

A new Gallup Poll has found that contraception is “morally acceptable” to 89 percent of Americans, including a top heavy 82 percent majority of American Catholics, despite the Church hierarchy’s opposition to the pill.

The poll was released a day after Catholic dioceses and institutions sued the Obama administration to block a requirement that employers cover contraception in health care plans offered to women employees.


Archbishop J. Peter Sartain

Catholic bishops have rejected an administration compromise under which the cost of birth control coverage would be borne by health insurers, and not Catholic hospitals and universities.

“The issue involved here is the broad separation of church and state, not necessarily the morality of using birth control,” Gallup reported. “Still, current data show that the substantial majority of Catholics interviewed say birth control is morally acceptable.”

The national poll showed attitudes on social issues that may not go down well with Catholic bishops or leaders of the Christian right. Its findings include:

–By a 59-38 percent majority, Americans find it acceptable for medical researchers to use stem cells obtained from human embryos;

–A 59-38 percent majority approve of sex between an unmarried man and unmarried woman;

–A 54-42 percent majority find relations between gays and lesbians to be morally acceptable