Opinion: Ahead of Washington

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For fear of stirring controversy, the Administration has treated its year-old policy of supporting birth control programs at home and abroad with all the delicacy of a family doctor. An anti-poverty program to distribute contraceptives to unmarried and separated mothers has actually been halted by a bitter argument over its moral and social desirability.

Americans meanwhile have been making up their own minds. A Gallup poll carried out for the Population Council indicated last week that the nation overwhelmingly (84% to 10%) wants birth control information made available to married couples and strongly (63% to 28%) favors federal aid for state and city programs. As for unmarried adults, a small majority (50% to 43%) believes birth control information "ought to be easily available" to them. The most surprising finding of all is that there is only a marginal difference on these questions between Catholics and non-Catholics. The survey, conceded Health, Education and Welfare family planning expert Dr. Richard Prindle, shows that "the public is well ahead of most of us bureaucrats."