Read a Feb. 28, 2012, EWTN News/CNA article in which Chicago Cardinal Francis George says the Catholic Church may be forced to halt its work in the public square, such as in hospitals and universities, because of the contraception coverage mandate.

An August 2011 Guttmacher report outlines increasing disparities between the rich and the poor in rates of unintended pregnancy and abortion.

A Guttmacher Institute study found that 98 percent of sexually active Catholic women in the U.S. have used a birth control method not sanctioned by the church. The full report, titled “Countering Conventional Wisdom: New Evidence on Religion and Contraceptive Use,” provides numerous other religion-related statistics, as well.

Read a Feb. 6, 2012, article from U.S. News & World Report about the Republican party’s “war” on contraception. It reports that ninety-nine percent of U.S. women use birth control sometime during their childbearing years, according to the CDC.

According to a Feb. 19, 2012, Washington Post article, 28 states already have contraception coverage requirements similar to the one the Obama administration is imposing. Typically, though, organizations objecting to the state requirements have been able to find legal ways around the rules; a federal mandate will make that nearly impossible, critics say.

A report published in August 2010 by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides a wealth of data about contraception use in the U.S. from 1982-2008. The CDC also posts links to resources and statistics on unintended pregnancy and women’s reproductive health.

A poll done in early February 2012 by Rasmussen Reports indicated that despite a slight improvement around that time in Obama’s overall performance ratings by the general public, Catholics remained critical, with 59 percent of likely Catholic voters disapproving of his handling of the job.

As of mid-February 2012, the controversy over birth control hadn’t significantly affected Catholics’ views of Obama, according to Gallup Daily tracking.

More than three-quarters of Americans say birth control pills ought to be covered by insurance, according to an NPR/Thompson Reuters poll in 2011.