The share of Americans saying they would only vote for a major political candidate who shares their view on abortion rights has risen to a record high in the U.S., with almost one in three agreeing with such a statement, according to a new Gallup poll published on Thursday.
The increase is much higher than during the 2020 presidential election cycle among pro-choice views, the pollster added, while "pro-life voters' intensity about voting on abortion issue has waned."
The change mainly answers to Democrats giving more importance to the issue, especially since the Dobbs decision that overturned constitutional abortion protections enshrined by the Supreme Court ruling Roe V. Wade in 2022.
President Joe Biden has been quick to embrace a pro-choice position, hoping that it will boost his standing in states where the issue will be (or looking to be) on the ballot in November. Trump, in contrast, has been more ambiguous on the issue as his party holds most of those who want to restrict or outright ban the procedure.
The incumbent stands to benefit from this, as "nearly twice as many pro-choice voters (40%) as pro-life voters (22%) say they will only vote for a candidate who agrees with them on abortion," the survey said.
"As a result of these changes, the 32% of all registered voters who say they will only vote for candidates who share their views on abortion now includes 23% who are pro-choice and 8% who are pro-life. (Another 1% don't identify with either label.)"
In another passage of the study, Gallup shows that the 2022 Dobbs decision was a clear catalyst for the importance pro-choice voters give to the issue when casting a ballot. The outlet clarifies that "all of the increase since then in voters saying they will only support candidates who share their position on abortion has occurred among Democrats."
"In an era of hyper-partisanship and where candidates generally align with their party's position on the abortion issue, this isn't likely to affect whom Democrats vote for, but it could help drive Democrats to the polls. Meanwhile, independents' and Republicans' focus on the issue has been steady at just over 20%."
While the amount of single-issue voters has risen to 32%, those who identify as pro-choice are currently the majority. Concretely, 54% of adults identify as such, "continuing the pattern of majority-level support for the position seen since the Dobbs decision was leaked."
"Meanwhile, 41% of Americans now identify as pro-life, similar to the 39% to 44% levels recorded since the Dobbs leak but in contrast with the average 46% in the decade and half before it."
Several states are moving toward putting abortion rights measures on the November ballot, while others have confirmed it (Florida, Maryland, South Dakota and Colorado). Montana, Arizona, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, Nevada, Missouri and Arkansas are still moving towards this.
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