The GOP's new inquisition.
Another poll, another confirmation that the GOP's narrative that their attack on women's health is really all about religious liberty has sunk like a lead balloon. The Public Religion Research Institution asked a random sample of 1,007 adults 18 years of age or older whether religious liberty was under attack in the United States, and whether government-mandated birth control coverage was part of that threat. And the American public said, "are you kidding?"
Washington, DC— On the heels of a months-long heated debate on religious liberty, a new national survey finds that a majority (56%) of Americans do NOT believe that the right of religious liberty is being threatened in America today. Roughly 4-in-10 (39%) believe religious liberty is under attack.
The new PRRI-RNS Religion News Survey, conducted by Public Religion Research Institute in partnership with Religion News Service, allowed those who said religious liberty is under attack to explain in their own words why they felt the right of religious liberty is being threatened. Despite the recent heavy media focus on contraceptive coverage in the religious liberty debate, only 6% cited the contraception mandate issue. The most frequently cited reasons were perceptions that religion was being removed from the public square (23%) or that government was interfering with religion (20%).
The minority that believes that religious liberty is under attack is the minority that drives all Republican policy: "Majorities of Tea Party members (72%) Republicans (60%), and seniors (56%) believe that religious liberty is being threatened. White evangelical Protestants (61%) are the only major religious group that believes religious liberty is threatened in America today." And out of all of them, only a tiny little sliver actually believes that the birth control mandate matters.
That's a massive fail on the part of Republicans to set a narrative. Seriously, they could only get 6 percent of 39 percent of their base to follow them down the rabbit-hole on the whole birth control thing.
No wonder they're doing their damnedest to pretend like it never happened. Well, that and the actual popularity of the Obama administration's coverage rule:
Roughly 6-in-10 Americans say that publicly held corporations (62%) and religiously affiliated hospitals (57%) should be required to provide employees with health care plans that cover contraception.