Only 8 percent of North Carolinians think sneaking abortion restrictions into bills regarding Sharia law and motorcycle safety is “appropriate,” according to a new PPP survey. A whopping 80 percent say that their state’s Republicans’ recent efforts to limit abortion rights by adding restrictions to bills that had nothing to do with women’s health are “inappropriate.”

Only 17 percent believe that Sharia law is a “pressing state issue” in the first place. Earlier this year, Republicans also considered a law establishing Christianity as the state’s official religion.

Republicans took control of both houses of the state legislature in 2010 for the first time in more than a century. Since Republican governor Pat McCrory took office in 2013, the legislature has passed and the governor has signed a flurry of some of the most extreme legislation in the nation.

But the Tea Party-backed legislature reached a new low — or high, depending on your point of view — when they added abortion restrictions to a bill banning Sharia law and one regulating motorcycle safety.

A near majority of 46 percent say the legislature is now a national embarrassment. Democrats also lead the generic ballot by 9 percent, but given the state’s recent redistricting that likely still wouldn’t be enough for the GOP to lose control of the state House or Senate, even though only 20 percent of the state approves of the job the majority is doing.

Governor McCrory promised during his campaign that he would not sign any new abortion legislation. Only 40 percent approve of the job he’s doing, while 49 percent disapprove, a total decline of 15 percent in one month. His current disapproval rating nearly matches the 48 percent of voters who want him to veto the new restrictions.

The state GOP’s cuts to unemployment insurance benefits are also unpopular. Only 29 percent agree with the recent cuts that took benefits away from 79,000 state residents, making North Carolina the first state in the union to turn down federal unemployment insurance.

Thousands have been gathering at the Capitol in Raleigh every Monday night to protest the Republican agenda. The 11th “Moral Monday” held soon after the verdict in the George Zimmerman trial was announced attracted nearly 5,000 people, according to organizers.

 Photo: taberandrew via Flickr.com