Bush’s Pro-Life View on Abortion Gives 4% Advantage Over John Kerry

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Feb 10, 2004   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Bush’s Pro-Life View on Abortion Gives 4% Advantage Over John Kerry

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
February 10, 2004

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A new national poll by Rasmussen Reports shows that President Bush gains a four-point advantage over likely Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry because of his pro-life views on abortion.

Pro-life advocates say the poll confirms what they’ve always known — being pro-life isn’t just the right thing to do, but it helps in elections against pro-abortion candidates like Kerry.

When asked about the issue of abortion, 43 percent of respondents said they trust President Bush to handle abortion properly while only 39 percent say they trust Massachusetts senator John Kerry. The 4-point gain is just outside the poll’s 3 percent margin of error.

Carol Tobias, director of the National Right to Life PAC, told LifeNews.com she wasn’t surprised by the Rasmussen poll’s results.

"Polls consistently show that a majority of Americans are pro-life, so we shouldn’t be surprised that pro-life President Bush is trusted more than pro-abortion John Kerry on this issue," Tobias said.

Past polls also show that a pro-life stance has consistently helped presidential candidates.

A study published by the Gallup Poll Special Report entitled "Public Opinion About Abortion — An In-Depth Review" said "the abortion issue has been an advantage for Republican candidates" for all six presidential elections from 1984 to 2000 because of the nominee’s pro-life position.

In the 2000 presidential election, Gallup polls showed that 14 percent of voters (the highest percentage ever) said abortion was one of the most important issues on which they based their vote for president.

Of those voters, 58 percent supported Bush while only 41% supported pro-abortion candidate Al Gore.

The net result was a 2.4 percent gain for Bush on the issue of abortion. Had Bush not taken a pro-life view, he would have lost the popular vote by a larger margin, and perhaps the electoral vote as well.

"Among the minority of Americans who are highly motivated on the abortion issue, the pro-life side has the edge, as those opposed to abortion tend to feel more strongly about their position and are more likely to base their vote choices on it than are those in favor of abortion rights," Gallup notes.

Related web sites:
National Right to Life – https://www.nrlc.org