A public backlash against proposals to extend abortion law has been revealed in a new opinion poll ahead of the General Election.
And the findings have uncovered evidence that women especially are firmly opposed to the introduction of abortion up to birth (though abortion is already allowed up to birth if the baby is found to be 'seriously' disabled).
The results have been welcomed by The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) which was formed in 1967 - the same year as the Abortion Act was passed.
SPUC spokesperson Dr Anthony McCarthy said:
"This poll reveals how out of touch are those seeking to make abortion still more widely available.
"The abortion industry wants us to believe that abortion is a 'right' and should be decriminalised.
"But it is becoming increasingly clear that most people know better in their hearts.
"In fact, the public in Britain is uneasy about abortion, and women are particularly uneasy."
The poll was carried out by Where Do They Stand, a grassroots group which exists to help the public find out the views of elected representatives.
It revealed that only 1% want to raise the time limit to birth and that women especially want the time limit lowered and not raised.
Dr McCarthy added:
"The poll further makes clear that people want independent counselling for pregnant women and better support for those who would like to continue their pregnancies but are under financial pressure to abort."
ComRes interviewed 2008 British adults online between 12th and 14th May 2017. Data was weighted to be representative of all GB adults. The key findings were:
- Only 1 % want the abortion time limit raised to birth
- 70 % of women would like the current time limit lowered.
- 59 % of women would like the time limit lowered to 16 weeks or lower.
- 65 % oppose UK taxpayer money being spent on abortions overseas.
- 93 % of women want independent abortion counselling introduced.
- 91% of women want a sex-selective abortion ban.
- 79% want a five-day consideration period before abortion.
- 84% of women want improved pregnancy support for women in crisis.
- 76% want introduction of doctors verifying women not coerced.
- 70% of parents want parental consent for girls 15 and under
Dr McCarthy said:"The findings illustrate quite clearly a disconnect between ordinary voters and the utterances of many public broadcasters, pundits and parliamentarians.
"We would emphasise that abortion is the No. 1 human rights scandal of our time yet the political elite in this country continually turn a blind eye.
"This poll provides further proof that the average man and woman in the street care about this issue and we are encouraging them to make the plight of unborn children a voting priority. Each and every week 4000 unborn babies are killed in Britain and their mothers carry the emotional scars, often for life."
Dr McCarthy continued:
"What is evident is that people want measures to prevent coerced abortions in Britain, and most oppose use of taxpayers' money to fund abortions overseas."
And Dr McCarthy added:
"The poll is extremely heartening, including in what it says about funding abortions in other countries. People in developing countries need help to save lives, not to end them. Women deserve better than abortion."
In Scotland, where responsibility for abortion was recently devolved to the Holyrood Parliament, the poll revealed similarly conservative attitudes with support for reduced abortion time limits.
In addition, 61% of Scottish respondents opposed any moves towards making it mandatory for doctors to have to participate in abortion procedures against their will, while 51% oppose moves to compel pharmacists to prescribe a pill against their will, if they believe that pill will end the life of an unborn child.
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