Key Findings

• While the first 2024 presidential primary is nine months away, several Republican hopefuls and President Biden have begun their messaging to voters, including staking out positions on controversial health issues like abortion. Looking ahead to 2024, three in ten voters say they will only vote for a candidate who shares their views on abortion. This includes nearly half of Democratic voters (46%) and more than one-third of women voters (35%). Another half of voters (53%) say abortion is just one of many important factors they will be weighing in their decisions during the 2024 election and 16% say abortion is not an important factor in their vote.

• Six months after abortion access was one of the major issues in the 2022 midterm elections, Democrats have a strong edge over Republicans on which political party the public believes best represents their views on abortion, with four in ten (42%) saying the Democratic Party best represents their own views on abortion, compared to about one fourth (26%) who say the Republican Party best represents their own views on abortion. The Democratic Party also has the advantage among women ages 18 to 49. About half (45%) of women ages 18 to 49 say their views on abortion are best represented by the Democratic Party, nearly twice the share (24%) who say their views align most with the Republican Party. A substantial share (32%) of the public says “neither party” represents their views on abortion, including three in ten women ages 18 to 49.

This KFF Health Tracking Poll was designed and analyzed by public opinion researchers at KFF. The survey was conducted May 9-19, 2023, online and by telephone among a nationally representative sample of 1,674 U.S. adults in English (1,594) and in Spanish (80) including 799 women aged 18-49. The sample includes 1,393 adults reached through the SSRS Opinion Panel either online or over the phone (n=45 in Spanish).