If you want to see the inevitable adoption of the ACA by Republicans, I propose we look at the Catholic reality, not the doctrine, of the use of birth control. The “real” American Catholic view on birth control is demonstrated simply by counting the family size in the parish pews. Here is a hint: it is the same as for Protestant families.
You can make the same analysis in terms of the number of abortions in Republican families vs. Democratic families. We do not know that number, but either Republican teenagers have less sex than Democratic teenagers, or else the kids have quietly acquired access to birth control and abortion.
I live in a conservative small town with few secrets (the right to privacy has never existed in small towns). The teens know who is having sex (which is most of them who get the opportunity) and also know which girls have had abortions. There is no Republican-Democratic divide on this issue in reality. The mothers usually are the ones who make the quiet arrangements. And I don’t think my town is that different from yours.
So the reality on abortion and birth control, for Catholics and Republicans, is this: Publicly, you are against it, but privately, you make the necessary choices for your family.
Now think about the number and political mix of parents of “underemployed” young adults. The 2008 Bush recession has been a five-year devastation for young people emerging from schools. If they CAN get a job, it is often not in their preferred field, and often with companies offering minimal benefits.
So, like our Catholics-in-the-pew question, of the 3.1 million young adults under 26 eligible to join their parents’ health care plan, what do you think is the Republican-Democratic mix of those taking up the offer? Do Republican parents refuse to put their underemployed child on their insurance just to spite the President? I think not.
In my youth, my very conservative father believed that the primary sign of adulthood was when you bought your own insurance for yourself and your family. Like Republican families faced with a pregnant daughter, let me suggest that Republican parents currently financing the earnings shortfall of their young adult children will be making sure that the kids will get enrolled in a health plan one way or another.
And they will still hate this president.