Poll Shows Majority of Americans Pro-Life, Abortion Issues Helps McCain Over Obama

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jul 5, 2008   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Poll Shows Majority of Americans Pro-Life, Abortion Issues Helps McCain Over Obama

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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
July 5
, 2008

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A new poll reveals a majority of Americans take a pro-life position on abortion and that pro-life Americans outnumber pro-abortion Americans by a 16 percent margin. The survey also found the issue of abortion gives presidential candidate John McCain an eight point advantage over his pro-abortion rival Barack Obama.

Conducted by the Polling Company for National Right to Life, the June 2008 poll finds 54 percent of Americans take one of three pro-life positions on abortion and just 38 percent take a pro-abortion position.

Looking at a breakdown of the pro-life side of the equation, 17 percent of those surveyed said they oppose abortions and want them illegal for any reason.

Another 12 percent said abortions should only be allowed to save the life of the mother, and 27 percent said abortions should only be allowed in the very rare cases to save the life of the mother or when the woman is a victim of rape or incest.

The poll also found 30 percent of voters say that the issue of abortion will affect their vote, with 20 percent of self-identified pro-life voters saying so and only 9 percent of pro-abortion voters saying so.

Breaking down the numbers further, 17 percent of voters said they would only vote for a candidate who shares their view on abortion, regardless of that view. Looking at that group, 12 percent said they would only vote for a pro-life candidate and just 4 percent said they would only support a candidate who backs abortion.

That gives pro-life candidates, like McCain, an eight percent advantage on the issue of abortion, says David O’Steen, the executive director of National Right to Life.

Despite this pro-life advantage, because of other political issues like the economy and Iraq, the Polling Company survey found Obama has a 42 to 38 percentage lead with 14 percent of voters undecided.

O’Steen said the pro-life movement has a reason to be concerned because most voters don’t understand that Obama is not only in favor of legal abortions but is so extreme that he wants all abortions legal throughout pregnancy without any limits whatsoever.

The survey found 10 percent of voters wrongly thought Obama is pro-life and 43 percent said they don’t know his position on abortion.

“Yet his position is so extreme that he would allow children who are born alive after an abortion to be allowed to die with no medical attention,” O’Steen said.

The poll found only 10 percent of voters know that Obama supports abortion in all occasions and O’Steen told the hundreds of pro-life advocates at the National Right to Life convention that they must pull out all the stops to educate friends and family that Obama is extremely pro-abortion.

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