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PRINCETON, NJ -- Catholics' views of President Obama were little changed during a week in which the administration battled publicly with Catholic leaders over whether church-affiliated employers should have to pay for contraception as part of their employees' health plans. An average of 46% of Catholics approved of the job Obama was doing as president last week, compared with 49% the prior week, a change within the margin of sampling error.

Although Catholic Church leaders' opposition to the requirement dates back to last fall, when the policy was being laid out, the controversy erupted and made headlines in the last 10 days, after the Obama administration announced that religious-based employers would ultimately have to comply. The Obama administration's rules would have forced organizations affiliated with the church -- such as Catholic hospitals, service organizations, and universities -- to pay for employee healthcare services that go against their belief that Catholics should not use contraception.

It is possible that practicing Catholics are more likely than nonpracticing Catholics to hew to the church's teachings on birth control. But both groups -- those who attend church every week or nearly every week and those who attend less often -- had identical 46% approval ratings of Obama last week. Though both more frequent and less frequent churchgoing Catholics' approval ratings of Obama were down from the prior week, neither change was statistically meaningful.

To some degree, the more positive economic news in the last couple of weeks may have helped offset any damage the birth-control controversy may have caused among Catholics. Also, on Feb. 10, the administration announced an "accommodation" to the requirement that was acceptable to some Catholic groups, but not to others -- including the U.S. bishops.

The accommodation did not appear to have a positive effect on Catholics' views of the president in the short run, with Catholic approval averaging 47% before Friday and 45% after.

Obama Approval Improves to 47% Among All Americans

Overall, last week was one of Obama's better weeks in terms of his approval rating. He averaged 47% approval, by one percentage point his highest weekly average so far this year and his best since June 2011.

The fact that Catholic approval of Obama (46%) was below his approval rating from all Americans (47%) last week is a bit of a departure from the norm, though. Throughout his presidency, Catholics have generally given Obama slightly higher ratings than all Americans, with the monthly trend for Catholics closely following the national trend.

Implications

Catholics are typically an important swing voting group in U.S. elections, so a president is at some political risk if he pursues a policy that could anger Catholics. So far, though, it appears the controversy over religious group employer health plans and contraception has not had a significantly negative effect on how rank-and-file Catholics view the president.

One key will be whether Catholic approval of Obama stays a bit lower than it has been in the coming days or begins to edge back closer to 50%, where it had been earlier this year. This will give an indication of whether the controversy has passed and is forgotten, or remains an issue, resulting in a meaningful -- but small -- erosion in his support among Catholics.

In any case, as voters make up their minds about whether Obama deserves a second term in office, it is likely that than policy disputes they may have with the president on less top-of-mind issues.

Explore President Obama's approval ratings in depth and compare them with those of past presidents in the 优蜜传媒Presidential Job Approval Center.