Republican Voters in Virginia and Maryland Join Other States in Opposing Abortion 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
February 12, 2008
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Exiting poling data among Republican voters participating in the Potomac Primary on Tuesday night finds a majority of Republicans in both states take a pro-life position opposing legal abortions. With the exit polling data, the two states join 14 others where exit polling data exists in having a pro-life majority.
Exit polling data in Virginia of 719 Republican voters found about 63 percent of the Republican voters in the state are pro-life while just 34 percent said abortions should be legal.
Breaking down those numbers further, 25 percent of Virginia Republicans said they want all abortions to be illegal and another 38 percent take John McCain’s position in saying they want most abortions illegal.
Another 25 percent of GOP voters in Virginia take a pro-abortion position saying most abortions should be legal and just 9 percent side with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in taking a position in favor of legalizing all abortions.
In Maryland, an exit poll of 634 Republicans showed 56 percent take a pro-life view while 42 percent are pro-abortion.
Among pro-life GOP voters 17 percent want all abortions made illegal and 39 percent want most abortions illegal. Pro-abortion voters are split with 28 percent saying most abortions should be legal and just 14 percent saying al abortions should be legalized.
With pro-life Republican majorities in both states, now 16 of 21 states that have voted thus far in the primaries and have exit polling data have at least a majority of Republicans opposing all or most abortions.
The Virginia and Maryland exit polling numbers correspond with pre-primary polling conducted by Survey USA.
The polling firm interviewed 1,700 Maryland adults from February 9-10 and found that 55 percent of Republicans there take a pro-life position while 43 percent said they are “pro-choice” on abortion. Another poll of 1,700 Maryland voters on February 7 and 8 found a 59 to 38 percent advantage on the pro-life side.
Similar surveys in Virginia found a 63-34 pro-life split in the first survey and 64-33 percent in the second poll.
Exit Polling Showing Pro-Life Republican Majorities
State Pro-Life v. Pro-Abortion Always Illegal Mostly Ilegal Mostly Legal Always Legal California 54-42% 19% 35% 28% 14% New York 48-49% 14% 34% 28% 21% Illinois 64-33% 26% 38% 23% 10% Georgia 64-33% 25% 39% 24% 9% New Jersey 46-53% 16% 29% 34% 19% Missouri 74-23% 32% 43% 18% 6% Tennessee 75-22% 33% 42% 15% 7% Massachusetts 41-56% 13% 28% 37% 19% Arizona 58-37% 17% 42% 25% 13% Alabama 76-20% 32% 44% 15% 5% Connecticut 46-50% 13% 33% 30% 20% Oklahoma 76-22% 27% 49% 17% 6% Arkansas 80-18% 37% 43% 13% 6% Utah 85-13% 10% 75% 10% 3% Louisiana 75-22% 38% 37% 15% 7% Iowa 74-23% 25% 49% 16% 7% New Hampshire 45-52% 15% 30% 32% 20% Virginia 63-34% 25% 38% 25% 9% South Carolina 71-28% 28% 43% 19% 9% Florida 54-44% 18% 35% 30% 14% Maryland 56-42% 17% 39% 28% 14%
