Pro-choice Obama repels evangelicals

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By Julia Duin

'08 ISSUES:

Abortion is the key issue keeping many social conservatives and religious voters - especially young ones - from supporting pro-choice Democrat Barack Obama for president, leaving most of them to throw their support to his pro-life Republican opponent, John McCain.

A Greenberg Quinlan Rosner poll of voter attitudes, released last week, showed that two-thirds of Catholics and white evangelical Protestants of all ages oppose funding for abortions for poor women overseas. Seventy percent of all evangelicals - with slightly larger majorities among those younger than 30 - say abortion should be illegal in most or all cases.

These same groups - which make up half of the American electorate - also supported the "Mexico City policy," which forbids U.S. funding for organizations that perform abortions overseas. The largest bloc of supporters were young evangelical Christians at 69 percent.

Pollster Anna Greenberg acknowledged the intractability of the issue on Oct. 23, at a National Press Club forum sponsored by the United Nations Foundation and Religion & Ethics Newsweekly.

"While young evangelicals - and the public - have become more liberal on other social issues like gay marriage," she said, "we do not see the same movement towards a liberal position on abortion."

• Issues '08: The Washington Times takes a close look at an important issue every day before the elections.

Mr. Obama, Illinois Democrat, has pledged to repeal of the Mexico City policy and cut domestic restrictions on abortion, a stance that the Republican Party has tried to highlight in various ads.

Foremost among them is a video clip of Mr. Obama's July 17, 2007, vow to make abortion rights a centerpiece of his presidency.

"The first thing I'd do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act [FOCA]," he said, a statement that got him a rousing ovation at a Planned Parenthood Action Fund gathering.