Poll Finds Support for Contraceptive Policy and Gay Couples

Despite the deep divide between some religious leaders and government officials over contraceptives, the latest New York Times/CBS News poll found most voters support the new federal directive that health insurance plans provide coverage for birth control.

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In addition, most voters said they favored some type of legal recognition for same-sex couples, at a time when the New Jersey Legislature is set to vote on gay marriage and after a federal appellate court ruled that Proposition 8’s ban on same-sex marriage in California was unconstitutional.

While same-sex marriage and coverage for contraceptives have generated significant debate this month, the poll suggests that voters do not place social issues high on their agenda. When asked to name one issue that presidential candidates should discuss, most voters, including Republicans who described themselves as primary voters, mentioned an economic problem, like unemployment or the budget deficit. Few said they wanted to hear the candidates talk about abortion or gay marriage, for example.

On contraceptive coverage, 65 percent of voters in the poll said they supported the Obama administration’s requirement that health insurance plans cover the cost of birth control, and 59 percent, said the health insurance plans of religiously affiliated employers should cover the cost of birth control.

In a compromise last week, President Obama said insurance companies could shoulder the costs required under the new federal health care law, but the Conference of Catholic Bishops and other religious leaders continue to oppose the rule.

A majority of Catholic voters in the poll were at odds with the church’s official stance, agreeing with most other voters that religiously affiliated employers should offer health insurance that provides contraception. Jennifer Davison, 38, a Catholic from Lomita, Calif., agrees with the federal requirement. “My opinion is that it is a personal issue rather than a religious issue,” she said in a follow-up interview.

Unlike Catholics, white evangelical Christian voters were more divided, with half objecting to requiring the health insurance plans of religious employers to cover contraceptives; 43 percent supported it. “It is a religious issue with me,” said Jessica Isner, 22, an evangelical Christian from Elkins, W. Va. “I believe that providing birth control is O.K. if the hospital is not religiously affiliated.”

Gay marriage is another debate in which the Catholic laity disagrees with church doctrine. More than two-thirds of Catholic voters supported some sort of legal recognition of gay couples’ relationships: 44 percent favored marriage, and 25 percent preferred civil unions. Twenty-four percent said gay couples should receive no legal recognition.

Again, white evangelical Christian voters expressed more conservative views. A majority said there should not be legal recognition of a gay relationship, while 18 percent said they should be allowed to marry and 25 percent supported civil unions.

The nationwide telephone poll included 1,064 registered voters, of whom 226 were Catholic and 238 were white evangelical Christians. The margins of sampling error are plus or minus three percentage points for all voters, plus or minus seven points for Catholics, and plus or minus six points for white evangelical Christians.

Marina Stefan contributed reporting.

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Breast Cancer Drug May Weaken Bones, Study Finds

TUESDAY, Feb. 7 (HealthDay News) -- A drug used to prevent breast cancer in women at high risk for the disease appears to cause bone loss in some postmenopausal women, a new study finds.

The drug, Aromasin (exemestane), has been shown to reduce the odds of breast cancer by 65 percent, but it also worsens bone density by about three times in older women who are taking it, Canadian researchers report.

"The drug did affect bone density at the hip and spine," said lead researcher Dr. Angela Cheung, a senior scientist at the University Health Network in Toronto. "It does not affect everyone; about 65 percent of women have some bone loss."

The fear of bone loss is not a reason not to take the drug, Cheung said. "You really need to pay attention to your bone health when you take this medication, especially for preventing breast cancer."

However, for women who are at high risk for fractures, other drugs should be considered, she added.

Women taking this drug should also be taking calcium and vitamin D supplements, and having their bone density monitored, Cheung said.

An older drug, tamoxifen, actually builds bone, but it is not as effective at preventing breast cancer, she said. "But, for someone with healthy bones it is worthwhile taking the medication."

Exemestane is an aromatase inhibitor and works by suppressing the female hormone estrogen. These drugs are standard treatment for postmenopausal women with early stage hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer.

It had been speculated that exemestane, a third-generation aromatase inhibitor, might result in less bone loss than other similar drugs and might even stimulate bone formation.

For the new study, Cheung's team looked at bone loss among the more than 4,500 women who took part in a trial that compared exemestane with a placebo.

Among women taking the drug, the risk of developing breast cancer was lowered 65 percent, compared with women taking a placebo.

Among the 351 women in whom bone loss was studied, the researchers found that after two years there was an 8 percent loss of cortical bone in women taking exemestane, compared with 1 percent in the placebo group.

Cortical bone is the outer shell of bone that provides most of the bone support, and its loss accounts for about 80 percent of fractures in older people, the researchers noted.

The findings were published in the Feb. 6 online edition of The Lancet Oncology.

Dr. Stephanie Bernik, chief of surgical oncology at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, was somewhat cautious about the new research. She said that "the study needs longer follow-up to see if there is an increased risk of fracture."

"This study doesn't mean that we should stop using these drugs," she said. "We certainly rely on aromatase inhibitors more than tamoxifen in postmenopausal women, because the survival benefit has been proven."

The benefit of the drug outweighs that risk for most women, she said. However, if there is a family history of osteoporosis it may not be the best choice, Bernik said.

More information

For more on breast cancer, visit the American Cancer Society.

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