BY JIM NOLAN
The Family Foundation of Virginia today released results of a poll that shows seven out of 10 Virginians support tax credits for businesses that endow scholarships for private school students.
The poll, commissioned by the Foundation and conducted by Mason-Dixon Pollling & Research Inc., signaled similar support for allowing home school students to try out for public school sports teams.
The results are among the top legislative priorities for the socially conservative group, which has ties to the administration of Gov. Bob McDonnell and last year was influential in the passage of regulations that require abortion clinics to be regulated like hospitals.
This year, the group is also focusing on legislation that would require women seeking an abortion to have an ultrasound 24 hours before the procedure, and be offered the opportunity, it the words of Foundation president Victoria Cobb, “to view the image of her unborn child.”
According to the poll, the ultrasound legislation has the support of 54 percent of Virginians, said Cobb, whose husband, Matt is a deputy secretary of Health and Human Services.
The poll indicates similar support for another Family Foundation priority — not requiring faith-based adoption agencies to offer services to people who may not adhere to their religious beliefs in order to maintain their state funding.
Just over half of the 625 registered voters polled last week were evenly divided on legislation that would prohibit abortion beyond 20 weeks, when some believe a fetus can feel pain. Virginians also opposed taxpayer funding for embryonic stem-cell research by a margin of 51-36 percent, according to the poll.
Mason-Dixon surveyed 625 registered voters in Virginia statewide between Jan. 16-18. The margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Cobb said the survey results back up the wave of conservative GOP lawmakers that were elected to the General Assembly last November. Republicans now control the executive branch offices, the House of Delegates and have a tie-breaking vote in the Virginia Senate.
Voters, said Cobb, “knew exactly what they were doing and have expectations that these and other values issues will be successful.”
