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August 5, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – More Americans oppose than support the contraceptive coverage mandate announced by the Obama administration this week, according to the Rasmussen poll released Thursday.

The national telephone survey of U.S. adults conducted August 2-3 found that 46 percent disagreed health insurance companies should be “required by law to cover all government-approved contraceptives for women, without co-payments or other charges to the patient.” 39 percent agreed, while 15 percent were unsure.

The majority believed the mandate would not be a cost-saving measure, with 54 percent saying they believed health insurance costs would increase under such a mandate. 21 percent said the mandate would not impact costs, while 15 percent said costs would decrease.

Rasmussen also notes that 50 percent of Americans disagree that the government should mandate coverage of a set of medical procedures in every health insurance plan, while only 32 percent agreed.

When broken down by gender, the pollster notes that women are about evenly divided on the mandate, with 42 percent supporting and 40 percent opposed, while men are more strongly opposed, 50 percent to 37 percent.

The mandate emerged after a massive, months-long push by abortion giant Planned Parenthood to establish free birth control for American women, a campaign strongly opposed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.