Washington D.C., Oct 31, 2016 / 14:04 pm
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has backed an end to the Hyde Amendment, which bans most federally-funded Medicaid payments for abortion.
However, only about 36 percent of likely voters want an end to the ban on taxpayer-funded abortion, Politico reports.
About 57 percent of Clinton voters backed an end to the Hyde Amendment. But among likely Trump voters, 77 percent support the Hyde Amendment policy, while only 19 percent are opposed.
The amendment, named for the late U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde, has been added to spending bills in Congress annually for forty years.
The poll, conducted for Politico by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, surveyed 1,492 likely voters Sept. 14-21.
Any changes to federal policy could depend on the outcome of congressional elections this November. Efforts to end the Hyde Amendment are likely to face broad opposition in Congress, including from some Democratic legislators.
Federal funding for Planned Parenthood is more popular.
Despite video reports appearing to show Planned Parenthood clinics engaged in the illegal sale of fetal tissue, about 58 percent of Americans support funding for the abortion provider while only 37 percent are opposed.
Likely Trump voters are split, with 48 percent wanting an end to Planned Parenthood funding while 47 percent in support. Likely Clinton voters favor Planned Parenthood funding by a 70-26 margin.
Republicans rank abortion as a top health care concern, but behind other issues such as the future of the 2010 health care law known as Obamacare, the government's role in slowing the rise of health costs, and Medicare. For Democrats, abortion ranked seventh in importance, with Medicare ranked first.
About 25 percent of likely voters said abortion is extremely important to their choice for president. Women were much more likely than men to say abortion policies are extremely or very important.