Florida resident Kathy McMurray has no doubt she’ll vote for Mitt Romney in November – she’s a diehard Republican – but if there’s one thing that gives her pause, it’s the party’s focus on reproductive issues.

“I don’t need him making my reproductive decisions for me,” she said of Romney, who will accept his party’s nomination for president on Thursday.

In 2008, 10 million more women voted than men and both sides are going after female voters.

This year, poll after poll indicates a gap between Romney and Obama on women’s issues: An ABC News/Washington Post Poll taken between Aug. 22 and Aug. 25 found that Obama beat Romney on women’s issues 51 percent to 35 percent. And a Quinnipiac University poll of Ohio voters released Aug. 23 found that women backed Obama 54 percent to Romney’s 41 percent, while men preferred Romney 48 percent to Obama’s 46 percent. A Columbus Dispatch poll released Sunday found Obama beating Romney among women voters by 10 percent.

Most of those polls were taken before Rep. Todd Akin caused a firestorm by suggesting in a TV interview that during a “legitimate rape” women’s bodies had ways of repelling a pregnancy. Earlier this year, former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Penn., focused heavily on issues such as abortion during the Republican primary. Santorum was the featured guest of the Ohio Republican delegation at its Tuesday breakfast.

On the other end of the spectrum, Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen irked Republicans earlier this year by suggesting Romney’s wife Ann had “never worked a day in her life,” and Catholics and anti-abortion groups were outraged by an Obama administration rule that would require religious organizations to cover birth control as part of their health plans under the new Obama administration law.

But it was the Akin comments that caused an unwanted distraction for Romney in the days leading up to the convention. Romney quickly distanced himself from those statements and urged Akin to drop out of the race for the Missouri Senate.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-West Chester, Monday acknowledged the Akin comments were a “distraction.” He echoed a common talking point: Women, he said, would vote based on jobs.

“American women – their number one concern is jobs,” he said. “This economy is hurting women more than it’s hurting men.”

Democrats have leapt on the issue, with Democratic consultant Donna Brazile recently sending out a fundraising plea accusing Romney and running mate Paul Ryan of wanting “to roll back women’s rights.”

McMurray, who lives in Odessa, Fla., near Clearwater, acknowledged as much. She and her husband run a small commercial water treatment company, and she said the uncertainty about the economy will be the top driver of how she votes.

“It really comes down to the economy,” she said.

Jo Ann Davidson, the former speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives and a convention delegate, said she believes her fellow Republican women will vote with their wallets.

“The real issue for women is what it is for everyone else,” she said. “It’s the jobs issue. It’s huge for them. Unemployment numbers among women have gone up in Obama’s first term.”

“I can’t imagine any woman who wouldn’t support Romney,” said Lynda Bowers, a delegate from Medina, who said she believes the Akin dustup will be “a moment that passes.” “The Romney family takes family and family values to a whole new level and I think it’s just a matter of people need to get to know the Romney family.”