Pro-lifers are more likely than pro-choicers to be single-issue voters and say they will only vote for someone who shares their beliefs about abortion, according to a new Gallup survey.
The poll of 1,028 adults found that 30 percent of pro-life adults but 19 percent of pro-choicers say they would “only vote for a candidate who shares their views on abortion.”
It’s the widest gap between pro-lifers and pro-choicers on the question since 2001. Pro-lifers have led on the question every year.
“The latest findings … show the continuation of a trend seen since 2001 whereby Americans who consider themselves to be pro-life are more likely than those who identify as pro-choice to say abortion is a threshold issue,” Gallup’s Megan Brenan wrote in an analysis.
“While these groups have placed varying degrees of importance on the abortion issue in the past, the gap in their views has widened.”
All total, 24 percent of U.S. adults say they will only vote for a candidate who shares their views on abortion.
Although there is a major difference between pro-lifers and pro-choicers on the issue, there is little difference between Republicans and Democrats. A total of 26 percent of Republicans, 27 percent of Democrats and 19 percent of Independents are single-issue voters on abortion. A full 47 percent of Republicans, 47 percent of Independents and 50 percent of Democrats say abortion is one of many important factors that impact how they vote.
“The abortion issue potentially works more to the advantage of Republicans than Democrats, given the parties' respective platforms and the greater proportion of pro-life than pro-choice voters who will vote only for candidates who share their views on the issue,” Brenan wrote. “However, abortion may serve to mobilize voters to turn out more than it does to influence their candidate choice, given the increasingly greater alignment of Republican and Democratic candidates with their party's position on abortion.”
The survey was released Tuesday and conducted May 1-13.
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Hermosa Wave
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
