Gov. Sarah Palin's opposition to legal abortion -- even in cases of rape and incest -- has given the issue new prominence. Passionate abortion foes are enthused. Passionate abortion-rights supporters are horrified.

But most voters probably won't give the abortion issue decisive weight in choosing between John McCain and Barack Obama. And for good reason. Both political parties embrace unpopular, immoderately absolutist positions on the issue, although McCain has flirted with moderation in the past.

And even though one or more of the five Supreme Court justices who clearly support abortion rights may well retire in the next four years, neither party is likely to succeed in making it a lot harder -- or a lot easier -- for most women to get abortions.

Polls show that a large majority of Americans reject both Palin's uncompromising anti-abortion vision and the Republican platform's extreme call for banning all abortions and all embryonic-stem-cell research. Most also oppose overruling Roe v. Wade.

But most voters don't agree with Obama's absolutist abortion-rights record, either. Obama would make it easier for women to get abortions; most voters would make it harder. Obama would require the federal government to fund abortions for poor women; most voters oppose that. And Obama's record as an Illinois state senator can be read as suggesting that he may have a more sweeping vision of abortion rights than any of his current Senate colleagues have.

Would a McCain-Palin victory spell doom for Roe v. Wade and constitutional protection of abortion rights? It's an outside possibility, but I'd bet a lot against it.