Post-election polling has shown that pro-life issues played a major role in what happened at the polls yesterday and provided a margin sufficient to guarantee victory in many close races.
According to a national post-election poll conducted by the Polling Company, 22% said abortion affected their vote and that they voted for candidates that opposed abortion as opposed to only 8% who said that abortion affected their vote and that they voted for candidates who favored abortion.
The abortion issue was prevalent in the debate over the Obama Health Care Law and National Right to Life sought, but ultimately failed, to obtain language in the law to prevent abortion subsidies in all parts of the law. Numerous Democrats who voted for the law, including many who had previously voted pro-life, were defeated last night. Polling shows that the abortion component of the health care law played a major role in those defeats.
Twenty-seven percent of voters said abortion funding in the health care law affected their vote and they voted for candidates who opposed the health care law as opposed to only 4% who said abortion funding in the health care law affected their vote and they voted for candidates who favored the law.
National Right to Life has also repeatedly pointed out that the Obama Health Care Law, if allowed to go into effect, will mean massive rationing of health care including the rationing of life saving treatment.
The public agrees and clearly showed last night that they oppose rationing.
Forty-four percent of voters said rationing in the health care law affected their vote and they voted for candidates who opposed the health care law while only 10% said rationing in the health care bill affected their vote and they voted for candidates who favored the Obama Health Care Law.
Overall 54% said they oppose the health care law (44% strongly) while only 39% favor it (26% strongly).
The poll also revealed that a majority continues to favor allowing abortion only in very rare circumstances. Fifty-three percent would allow abortion at most in cases to save the life of the mother or in cases of rape or incest as opposed to 41% who would allow abortion regardless of the reason. However, 25% of those who gave a pro-abortion response would allow abortion only in the first three months while the current policy under Roe vs. Wade allows abortion essentially throughout pregnancy for any reason.
National Right to Life’s political action committee was extensively involved in 122 federal races nationwide winning 84 (74%) of them. Our involvement and national reach was reflected in poll which found that 24% of voters recalled hearing or seeing advertising from, or receiving information from National Right to Life.
What a difference a year makes! Less than a year ago, naysayers were writing political obituaries for pro-life candidates. The situation admittedly looked bleak. Five pro-life senators decided to retire. Many wanted us to believe that, after the 2008 election, pro-life Americans were fewer or less motivated. They were wrong on both counts. The political landscape changed drastically in the last few months.
Pro-life voters don’t just vote their pocketbooks, they also vote their values. They vote their hearts. They vote for the most vulnerable among us. They are selfless and passionate and yesterday, they soundly voted against Obama’s abortion agenda.
According to a poll conducted by the polling companyTM inc., pro-life candidates enjoyed a definite advantage in yesterday’s elections. Thirty percent of voters said that abortion “affected” their vote. 22% of all voters voted for pro-life candidates, while only 8 percent of all voters voted for pro-abortion candidates giving pro-life candidates a net pro-life advantage of 14 percent.
This advantage is not new. In 1980, National Right to Life Political Action Committee was organized, and in the 30 years that followed, in election after election, among those voters who base their vote on abortion, National Right to Life has consistently seen a definite advantage for pro-life candidates over pro-abortion candidates.
Despite being vastly outspent by pro-abortion groups, candidates supported by National Right to Life PAC fared well last night. National Right to Life PAC supported 285 federal candidates nationwide. Of those, 235 (or 82%) won their races.
In the most competitive races, National Right to Life PAC actively worked in 122 federal races nationwide. Of those, 84 (or 74%) won, and nine are still undecided.
Of those, twenty candidates were in highly competitive races against candidates who were supported by the well-funded pro-abortion group, EMILY’s List. EMILY’s List is a pro-abortion PAC which supports only women candidates who support abortion on demand, partial-birth abortion, and using tax dollars to pay for abortion. In fourteen of those twenty races (or 70 percent), the pro-life candidate supported by National Right to Life PAC won.
The capacity to consistently deliver votes to elect pro-life men and women to Congress explains why the National Right to Life Political Action Committee (NRL PAC) is held in such high esteem.
National Right to Life PAC is the largest and by far the most effective single-issue pro-life political action committee in the country.
NRL PAC actively supports candidates for federal office who will work to further the goals of the pro-life movement. An important component of this assistance is educating candidates, the public, and the press so that myths about the abortion issue and the electoral process can be dispelled.
Pro-life candidates benefit because the American people are pro-life; the majority of the country is opposed to the vast majority of abortions. According to a post-election poll by the polling companyTM inc., fully 53 percent of voters were opposed to abortion except in very rare circumstances.
Since 1973, more than fifty million defenseless babies have been aborted—more than 3,300 each day, 365 days a year. When we stay home on election day, babies die.
But in every election we have an opportunity to vote for candidates who will defend the lives of those who cannot defend themselves.
The 2010 elections gave National Right to Life PAC another opportunity to defend those who cannot speak for themselves—to strengthen pro-life support in the House and Senate against the Obama abortion agenda.