Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Pew poll gets conservative response

The Pew polls tend to have a left-wing bias, but its latest poll shows some conservative views.

66% said that abortion should be illegal under various circumstances. Only 31% said that it should be always available, as under current law, or "generally available", whatever that means.

The poll asked, "Do you strongly favor, favor, oppose, or strongly oppose allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally?" This is a strange question because gays and lesbians have always been able to marry legally. No marriage license application asks for anyone's sexual orientation. A more neutral question would be, "Do you strongly favor, favor, oppose, or strongly oppose allowing same-sex marriages?" Nevertheless, opposition is holding steady at 56%.

The poll found that 64% favor teaching creationism along with evolution in public schools. The poll didn't say, but presumably an additional 30% or so are either against teaching evolution or think that evolution should be taught in a manner that is respectful of religious beliefs.

The poll had some questions on stem cell research, and none of the responses were inconsistent with Bush administration policy. I can only assume that the Pew folks were afraid that most people would agree with Bush policies, if the question were asked directly.

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