Majority of Americans: Planned Parenthood fight not worth a government shutdown

More than seven in 10 Americans said they would prefer a budget agreement to prevent the government from shutting down, compared to just 22 percent who said it is more important for Congress to eliminate all funding from Planned Parenthood, according to the results of a new CNN/ORC poll on domestic issues released Monday.

Lawmakers must agree on the terms of a temporary spending bill to prevent the government from shutting down on Oct. 1, as it did in 2013 over President Barack Obama's health care law. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who is running for president, has irked fellow Republicans over his strategy to defund Planned Parenthood after a series of undercover videos released earlier this summer showed employees discussing the donation of tissue from aborted fetuses.


On three issues likely to have a big impact in 2016—gun control, abortion and illegal immigration—Americans are divided.

Responding to questions on gun control, 41 percent said it is too easy to buy guns under existing laws, a decrease from the 56 percent in the aftermath of the Newtown shootings in 2012. A majority of 59 percent said that the laws are either fine as is (49 percent) or are too restrictive (10 percent). Americans were also somewhat skeptical that expanded background checks would keep guns out of the hands of people with mental problems or convicted criminals, while making it more difficult for law-abiding citizens to obtain a gun. Self-identified Democrats were slightly more optimistic about it than Republicans, according to the results.

On immigration, 46 percent said the top priority should be to develop a plan for those who entered the country illegally to become citizens, while 39 percent said it should be to develop a plan from keeping people from coming to the country illegally in the first place. A smaller share of 14 percent said the top priority should be to deport all immigrants illegally in the U.S.

On the issue of abortion, 26 percent of adults said it should be legal in any circumstances, 54 percent said it should be legal in certain circumstances and 18 percent said it should be illegal in all circumstances.

The poll was conducted Sept. 4-8 via landlines and cellphones, surveying 1,012 adults nationwide with an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Among the 930 registered voters surveyed, the margin of error is also plus or minus 3 percentage points.