President Obama is trying to calm the growing debate over his contraception mandate.
Instead of forcing religious institutions to provide employees birth control, the President now says the insurance companies to reach out and offer women contraceptive care free of charge.
Will this issue be enough to sway Catholic voters come November?
Michiana women we talked to say they appreciate the contraceptive mandate and the newest compromise, regardless of the conflict with the Catholic Church.
"If they work in the Catholic Church they should have that right to be able to have birth control if they need it, says Brandie Humphrey of South Bend.
Rachael Hamilton of South Bend says, "It's not just for birth control. It's for other medical reasons. It's not just for one thing. It's for many other things that women need it medically for."
But the issue seems to be they controversy right now...
FOX 28 Political Analyst Patrick Pierce says whoever ends up being the Republican candidate for President will use it along the campaign trail through November.
"Will raise it in particular settings, with particular audiences where they believe that they're going to find opposition," says Pierce.
But will it make an impact on voters?
Pierce says probably not, considering public opinion polls suggest most Catholic women use birth control.
"This is not going to have a lot of traction with lots of Catholic voters. Some yes, but not on the scale in which people believe," says Pierce.
While the women we talked to support the mandate, they seem to think it will hurt Obama come election time.
"Probably, but if he's willing to stand by it, I think he should stand by it because that's what he believes, rather than change his mind just to get reelected," says Maria Thompson of South Bend.
Humphrey says, "President Obama has a lot of issues going against him, but this can only hurt him in the long run."
Pierce says while he doesn't expect a lot of fallout for Obama with this come November, he says candidates will make it an issue through the primary campaigns, particularly Rick Santorum who has clearly made a stance on social issues.
