ABC broke its network silence on Tuesday morning, finally offering a report on the Obama administration's decision to force religious organizations to provide birth control in their health care plans. CBS again skipped the subject. On NBC's Today, Andrea Mitchell admitted that the action has "even touched a nerve with some liberal Democrats." [MP3 audio here.]

While Mitchell underlined the political danger the President is facing in swing states as a result of angering Christians, she softened the blow by making sure to note, "...Surveys indicate that most Catholics believe they can be good members of the church without following the church's teaching on birth control."

 

ANN CURRY: Meantime the Obama administration is facing a backlash from Catholic leaders over a provision in the new health care law.  At issue is birth control and NBC’s Andrea Mitchell is joining us this morning with the story. Hey Andrea. Good morning.

ANDREA MITCHELL: Good morning to you Ann. Well It is an issue that raises questions of church and state, First Amendment freedoms and government mandates. Add to that partisan politics and you have a volatile mix that could spell trouble for the White House in the campaign. All across the country voices on both sides are getting louder. From the pulpit and on the internet, outraged Catholic clergy have been preaching against the White House decision requiring catholic hospitals, charities and other institutions to include birth control in their health insurance plans.

CARDINAL DOLAN: Never before has the federal government forced individuals and organizations to go out into the marketplace and buy a product that violates their conscience.

MITCHELL: The administration says religiously-owned providers should not be allowed to impose their faith on non-Catholic employees. The rule does not apply to churches themselves.  And supporters say the Constitution mandates a separation of church and state.

WOMAN 1: People are not being forced to adopt a new set of religious beliefs by this rule. They can practice their religion as they see fit. They can choose not to use birth control.

MITCHELL: Twenty eight states already require contraceptive services to be included in health benefits.

JAY CARNEY: We’re going to work with institutions that have concerns here.  But I think it's important to note that we believe that American women deserve to have access to that kind of insurance coverage regardless of where they work.

MITCHELL: But In this volatile campaign Republican candidates are calling it a war on religion.

NEWT GINGRICH: This is a decision so totally outrageous and then an illustration of such radical secular ideology that I believe the entire hierarchy will oppose it every inch of the way.

MITCHELL: The Romney campaign is trying to organize opponents to sign an online petition against the new rule.

MITT ROMNEY: We must have a president who is willing to protect America’s first right.  A right to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience.

ANDREA MITCHELL: While the candidates focus on politics, other Republicans say it is a fundamental moral question.

MICHAEL GERSON: The decision itself is incomprehensible and I think the president Is going to need to step back, to back off of this issue or the courts are going to do it for him.

MITCHELL: The new policy has even touched a nerve with some liberal Democrats like Mark Shields on PBS.

MARK SHIELDS : The fallout is cataclysmic for the White House and for the President. And it’s left them out to dry. I mean it really has.  Just a policy that I think is, quite frankly, indefensible.

MITCHELL: While surveys indicate that most Catholics believe they can be good members of the church without following the church’s teaching on birth control, the issue could still persuade independent voters in swing states like Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, states that the President needs to win.