28 Percent of Republicans Deem Abortion an ‘Extremely Important’ Issue for 2020 Election, Gallup Poll Finds

Abortion remains one of the most important issues among Americans heading into another election, with Republicans more likely to say it is “extremely important” for how they vote, according to a new Gallup poll.

The survey of 1,025 U.S. adults in December listed a series of issues and asked those polled to label each one as “extremely” important, “very” important, “somewhat” important or not important in their vote for president. 

Abortion tied for eighth in Americans’ list of “extremely” important issues, trailing topics like health care, education, the economy and immigration but leading seven other issues, including taxes, the deficit and foreign affairs.

Republicans, though, are more likely to call abortion “extremely” important in how they vote for president. Twenty-eight percent of Republicans but 23 percent of Democrats called it “extremely” important, giving the GOP a 5 percentage point edge on the issue. Gallup data shows that most Republicans consider themselves pro-life and most Democrats call themselves pro-choice.

On nearly all other issue, though, Democrats had the edge. For example, 49 percent of Democrats but 22 percent of Republicans said health care was “extremely” important to their vote, giving Democrats a 27 percentage point lead. Democrats had similar edges on climate change (+36), distribution…