Half of Americans Oppose Obamacare Contraceptive Mandate

Half of voters say they're opposed to a government mandate that would requirethat employers provide health insurance with free contraceptives for their female employees, according to a new Rasmussen Reports poll released Monday.

Voters remain closely divided, however, when asked if a business should be allowed to opt out of such a mandate for religious reasons --the subject of a legal challenge of Obamacare now being heard before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The poll found 38 percent of likely U.S. voters still believe businesses should be required by law to provide health insurance that covers all government-approved contraceptives for women without co-payments or other charges to the patient, while 51 percent disagree and say employers should not be required to provide health insurance with this type of coverage. Only 11 percent said they were not sure.

Nearly half of voters -- 48 percent -- believea business should be able to opt out of providing health insurance coverage for contraceptives if providing such coverage violates the religious beliefs of the business owner. But almost as many -- 42 percent -- think a business should not be allowed to opt out of this requirement for religious reasons.

The survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted Dec. 1. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95 percent level of confidence.