My guess is, he calculated that since 75% of Catholics think the CHurch is off base on its rigid view on Birth Control, he probably hasn't got that much to lose politically.
If that's what he's calculating - he's dead wrong.
This is a serious issue that is being preached in our churches and is being communicated to parishoners - DAILY. In this state (Virginia) a letter by the Bishops of Richmond and Arlington was sent to all 700,000 Catholics. http://www.vacatholic.org/documents/HHSMandate-BishopsLetter-Jan2012.pdf
The letter is being circultated, blogged, and discussed/supported in this State's Catholic community.
Similar letters have been sent in diocese across the country.
The message is loud and clear - this is an attack on our religion.
Obama has done some stupid things - this is probably the dumbest one yet.
I haven't talked to one Catholic yet who has told me that this is a big issue to them. And nearly all of my relatives are Catholics (I'm not), two of them are actually employed by the Church and would be directly effected by this policy.