Poll: Latinos Say Religious Colleges and Hospitals Should Cover Contraception

PRESS RELEASE

Washington, D.C. — While Hispanic Americans are divided over whether the right of religious liberty is being threatened in America today, Hispanic Americans overall (64 percent), including Hispanic Catholics (68 percent) agree that religiously affiliated colleges and hospitals should provide employees with healthcare plans that cover contraception, a new survey finds.

The African American & Hispanic Reproductive Issues Survey, conducted by Public Religion Research Institute and released today in a national teleconference, provides a deeper look than public opinion polls usually provide into minority communities’ perspectives on abortion, the use of contraception, and reproductive issues. The study, which is a follow-up to the Religion, Millennials, and Abortion Survey conducted and released by PRRI in June 2011, finds that more than 6-in-10 (61 percent) Hispanic Americans believe that having an abortion is morally wrong. However, Hispanic Americans are divided on whether abortion should be legal in some or all cases, with 46 percent agreeing that abortion should be legal in some or all cases, while 51 percent disagree.

“Like most Americans, black Americans and Hispanic Americans bring a complex set of identities to the issue of abortion,” said Dr. Robert P. Jones, PRRI CEO. “For example, majorities of black Americans and Hispanic Americans simultaneously identify as both ‘pro-choice’ and ‘pro-life.’”

The survey also finds that regardless of personal views on abortion, a majority of Hispanic Americans (60 percent) believe it is possible to disagree with their religion’s teachings on abortion and still be considered a person of good standing in their faith.

“Among black Americans and Hispanic Americans, religion plays an important role in shaping attitudes on abortion,” said Daniel Cox, PRRI Research Director. “However, the messages that both groups receive from clergy are less consequential than other religious factors, like identifying as an evangelical Christian.”

Among the Findings:

Forty-six percent of Hispanic Americans believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 51 percent disagree. Two-thirds (67 percent) of black Americans believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 30 percent disagree.

A slim majority (51 percent) of black Americans and more than 6-in-10 (61 percent) Hispanic Americans believe that having an abortion is morally wrong. One-third (33 percent) of black Americans say that abortion is morally acceptable, compared to one-quarter (25 percent) of Hispanic Americans.

A quarter (25 percent) of Hispanic Americans who believe abortion is morally wrong agree that it should be legal in all or most cases, while nearly three-quarters (73 percent) believe having an abortion should be illegal in all or most cases. Conversely, a slim majority (52 percent) of black Americans who say abortion is morally wrong nevertheless believe that it should be legal in all or most cases, while less than half (46 percent) believe it should be illegal in all or most cases.

Strong majorities of black (61 percent) and Hispanic (64 percent) Americans believe religiously affiliated colleges and hospitals should be required to provide healthcare plans that cover birth control at no cost to their employees.

Roughly 7-in-10 black Americans and Hispanic Americans say that “not judging other people” (72 percent and 72 percent) and “showing compassion for women in difficult circumstances” (68 percent and 68 percent) are very important in shaping their views on the issue of abortion.

• Similar numbers of Hispanic Americans but fewer black Americans say that “promoting personal responsibility” is a very important value shaping their views on the legality of abortion (70 percent vs. 63 percent).

Like the general public, majorities of black Americans and Hispanic Americans identify as both “pro-life” and “pro-choice.” More than 7-in-10 black Americans (71 percent) and Hispanic Americans (77 percent) say that the term “pro-life” describes them somewhat or very well. At the same time, three-quarters (75 percent) of black Americans and 72 percent of Hispanic Americans report that “pro-choice” describes them somewhat or very well.

Overall, black Americans and Hispanic Americans believe contraception is morally acceptable (81 percent and 79 percent) and strongly support expanding access to it.

• Over 6-in-10 black Americans (61 percent) and Hispanic Americans (64 percent) say that religiously affiliated colleges and hospitals should be required to provide their employees with birth control at no cost.
• Strong majorities of black Americans (92 percent) and Hispanic Americans (85 percent) favor expanding birth control access for women who cannot afford it. Hispanic Republicans (67 percent), while still supportive, are less likely than Hispanic Independents (78 percent) or Democrats (91 percent) to favor this policy goal.
• Majorities of black Americans and Hispanic Americans also believe that methods of birth control should be available to teenagers age 16 and older without parental approval (59 percent and 54 percent).

Black Americans and Hispanic Americans also support comprehensive sex education in public schools and making HIV testing more available.

• Around 8-in-10 black Americans (84 percent) and Hispanic Americans (79 percent) support comprehensive sex education in public schools.
• Black Americans (93 percent) and Hispanic Americans (91 percent) are nearly unanimous in their support for making testing and screening for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases more available.

Relatively few black and Hispanic Americans name abortion (17 percent and 30 percent) and same-sex marriage (18 percent and 26 percent) as critical issues.

If Election Day were held today, nearly 9-in-10 (87 percent) black registered voters and nearly 6-in-10 (58 percent) Hispanic registered voters would vote for Obama, while 3 percent of black voters and nearly one-third (32 percent) of Hispanic voters would support Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

• The President’s lead differs between Hispanic Catholics and Hispanic Protestants voters. Among Hispanic Catholics, Obama leads Romney by 37 points (64 percent vs. 27 percent), Romney does better among Hispanic Protestants, among whom Obama’s lead shrinks to 9 points (50 percent to 41 percent).

Ninety percent of black Americans and 67 percent of Hispanic Americans hold favorable views of Obama, compared to 7 percent of black Americans and 29 percent of Hispanic Americans who hold unfavorable views of the President.

Only 14 percent of black Americans and 32 percent of Hispanic Americans have favorable views of Romney, while 76 percent of black Americans and 60 percent of Hispanic Americans hold unfavorable views of the former Massachusetts Governor.

The African American & Hispanic Reproductive Issues Survey was conducted by Public Religion Research Institute among a random sample of 810 non-Hispanic black American adults and 813 Hispanic American adults who are part of the Knowledge Networks’ KnowledgePanel. Interviews were conducted online in English among the black American sample and in both English and Spanish among the Hispanic sample. Interviews were conducted between June 14 and June 23, 2012. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4.7 percentage points for the Hispanic sample and +/- 5.1 percentage points for the black American sample at the 95% level of confidence.

Public Religion Research Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan organization specializing in research at the intersection of religion, values, and public life.