A new Marist poll has been released showing that a majority of Americans agree with the Little Sisters of the Poor in their case against the Obama administration over contraception coverage.
The poll, which was sponsored by the Catholic organization Knights of Columbus, asked over a thousand Americans if the government's accommodation process for religious organizations was fair. Fifty-three percent of respondents supported the Little Sisters by saying the process was not fair to them, the Blaze reported. Only 32 percent responded that the process was fair to the organization.
The sisters run many nursing homes around the United States for elderly men and women who do not have the means to pay for other facilities. They contend that the government mandate that they provide contraceptive coverage for their members and employees in health insurance plans violates their religious beliefs that contraception and abortion are morally wrong.
The Little Sisters of the Poor are in the midst of a challenge before the Supreme Court against the Department of Health and Human Services over the mandate and had oral arguments heard March 23. According to PR Newswire, the Supreme Court requested additional filings with one made on April 12 and another expected on April 20.
The head of the Knights of Columbus, Supreme Knight Carl Anderson, released a statement when the poll results were released.
"It is not reasonable for the government to demand that some—and only some—religious employers engage in activity that is totally unnecessary to the government’s stated purpose of providing elective and morally problematic drugs to employees," Anderson said.
"Such action doesn’t just violate the rights of employers like the Little Sisters, it is also at odds with the American people’s understanding of basic fairness and our long-standing commitment to protecting the deeply-held beliefs of every American—especially when those beliefs are the minority view."