The debate over President Barack Obama’s policy on contraceptive coverage is likely to persist, with the two sides struggling to frame the issue as either one over access to birth control or of religious freedom.

A compromise Obama offered last week that would force health insurers, and not religious-affiliated charities, to pay for contraceptives for employees of those institutions may have moved him off the defensive. Still, Republicans said it will be an election issue and vowed to push for a measure in Congress to repeal the policy, a vote that could come as early as this week.

Whoever is more successful at defining the dispute is likely to prevail with the electorate on the policy, pollsters and political strategists say.

“How it’s framed is very important,” said Terry Madonna, a political science professor and director of the Franklin & Marshall College poll in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Access to contraception and equal treatment of women in workplace-benefit plans both resonate with college-educated women, he said.

Obama and supporters of his policy say women deserve a way to obtain contraceptive services free of charge and that the president’s revision of the rule should satisfy religious-affiliated institutions because it allows them to avoid paying directly for birth control.

Critics, including Republican presidential candidates and congressional leaders, as well as groups such as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, say the policy encroaches on the prerogatives of religious entities.

Americans Divided

Among Americans aware of the issue, opinion is evenly divided even with sharp differences based on faith, gender and party: 48 percent support an exemption for religious-affiliated institutions, while 44 percent say they should be required to cover contraceptives, according to a poll conducted by the Pew Research Center Feb. 8-12. Obama announced the changes to his policy halfway through the poll, on Feb. 10, though the survey found little change in responses afterward.

Catholics, white evangelicals, Republicans and men, especially those [Continue reading in new window...]

The White House is expected to announce as early as Friday a plan to accommodate religious organizations that are opposed to a new policy requiring them to offer contraceptive coverage to employees.

A senior adviser to President Obama confirmed to Fox News that there will be an “accommodation” — but advisers said the announcement does not represent a “compromise.”

The move comes [Read full story...]