Almost three quarters of people surveyed for Planned Parenthood Action Fund said that FDA-approved prescription contraception should be fully covered by insurance and not cost the user anything.

The pro-abortion rights group wants birth control pills and other contraception covered as a preventive health care service – those that are covered under the health care reform law such as mammograms.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services can decide what extra preventive care to cover under the Women’s Health Amendment to the health care law. A decision on benefits is expected next August.

The group’s survey – of 1,147 American voters completed in July -- also found that a third of women have struggled to pay for birth control at some point in their lives.
 
 “At Planned Parenthood, we see too many women choosing between birth control and basics like rent, tuition and childcare. Because our country leads the industrialized world in unintended and teen pregnancy, prescription birth control must be made available at no cost,” said Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, in a statement. “Making birth control available at no cost makes it possible for women to use the method that works best for them and will reduce the number of unintended pregnancies in America.”

Co-pays, the group says, for birth control pills range from $15 to $50 a month and co-pays and other expenses for other contraception cost more upfront.

The group says that the survey showed support from men (60 percent), Republican women (72 percent) and Catholic women (77 percent).

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