Voter poll: Catholics give abortion lower priority than war, economy

Published: 2004-08-30

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Abortion was named as a "very important" priority by 49 percent of Catholics who expect to vote for President George W. Bush, coming behind Iraq, terrorism, moral values and the economy, each of which was named by at least 64 percent in a recent Pew poll. The poll by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life and the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press asked voters nationwide to list their highest priorities this election year. Participants typically named more than one topic and their accumulated responses were presented according to what percentage of people named them. The data was then divided according to whether the participants said they expect to vote for Bush, for Bush's Democratic opponent, Sen. John Kerry, or had not yet decided. Catholics who expect to vote for Kerry named health care, the economy, Iraq, the federal budget deficit, education and terrorism as their highest priorities. At least 74 percent of Catholic supporters of Kerry named each of those. Abortion was named as a priority for probable Kerry-voting Catholics 40 percent of the time.

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