With the Dow Jones plummeting this week and troops still fighting in Iraq, the abortion rights debate — once at the forefront of presidential politics — is taking a backseat.

University of Wisconsin political science professor David Canon said with crisis on many fronts, abortion as a topic of contention is being pushed down the list.

“The economy and war in Iraq will overshadow social issues such as abortion,” Canon said.

Yet for some, including University of Wisconsin students, the debate is especially important to anti-abortion voters.

According to a poll conducted by Time and ABT in September, 24 percent of likely voters surveyed found abortions rights to be “extremely important” when voting in this year’s election while 57 percent consider it to be at least a “somewhat important” issue.

Roman Catholic Foundation of UW dorm intern Liz Planton said opponents of abortion feel this is the top issue when choosing a candidate.

“For many who are pro-life, this is the No. 1 issue because they see it not only as a sexual issue, but also as a degradation to human dignity,” Planton said.

Others who are anti-abortion, including Andrea Eddy, also an RCF-UW dorm intern, understand recent economic troubles may alter the focus of “sexual issues” in the upcoming election.

Eddy said she is uncertain either candidate can alter the economic situation of the country, yet the next president will appoint judges who will make decisions on abortion rights — an issue she believes merits great attention.

“It is difficult for any student who upholds the dignity of life to ignore the fact that one candidate supports hundreds of thousands of children being killed each year, while one does not…” Eddy said. “Pro-life students recognize this fact.”

UW senior Chris Bjorkman, a representative for Sex Out Loud, supports abortion rights. She said on a personal level she feels women’s issues are always important when deciding who to elect because of the possible long-term repercussions of judicial appointments.

However, Bjorkman, who is graduating in May, said the economic situation will affect her more immediately and will be her primary issue when deciding which candidate to support.

Although no data exist, Canon said he can only speculate UW students may consider abortion rights more of a deciding factor when choosing a candidate — even in turbulent economic times — because for some students, sexual decisions are made for the first time while at UW.

Planton said college students become more aware of the abortion issue when they are finally free to make their own decisions and live in an environment of higher sexual activity.

Even after Republican vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin announced her teenage daughter’s pregnancy, Canon said abortion rights disappeared from the discussion to focus on the struggling American economy.

“In other elections abortion rights has figured so prominently,” Canon said. “But now so many other issues are on peoples’ priority lists.”