Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1141804
14 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 14 JULY 2019 MALTATODAY SURVEY ABORTION JUST 17 months after a majority agreed with abortion if a mother's life is in dan- ger, the tide has turned, a new MaltaTo- day survey shows. A majority of 45.5% now disagree with abortion if a mother's life is in danger, an upswing of almost 19 points since an- other poll in February 2018. Last year, a MaltaToday survey had found that abortion enjoyed majority support only when the mother's life was in danger. Nonetheless, this remains the circum- stance in which abortion is most agree- able with 37.4% supporting the termi- nation of a pregnancy, a drop of eight points since last year. The shift against abortion in this cir- cumstance was the most notable differ- ence over the 17 months with the latest findings broadly confirming the over- whelming anti-abortion attitudes from the 2018 poll. Another significant change was a sev- en-point increase in the opposition to abortion in cases of rape. Those who op- pose pregnancy termination in this cir- cumstance now stand at 78.5%. But unlike the circumstance when a woman's life is in danger, those who agree with abortion in rape cases re- mained relatively static at 14.6%. Most of the other changes recorded in the latest survey are relatively insignifi- cant because they fall within the margin of error. The findings show that 90.2% oppose unrestricted abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy with 5.2% in favour. Opposition weakens slightly when peo- ple were asked whether they agreed with abortion in the first 12 weeks of preg- nancy in certain circumstances. Mean- while 87.5% disagreed with abortion irrespective of the circumstances, 9.2% agreed. A resounding majority (97.2%) disagree with unrestricted abortion at whatever stage of the pregnancy, with only 1.4% favouring complete liberalisation. The survey also asked whether peo- ple agreed with abortion in particular circumstances. Support for abortion is highest when the mother's life is in dan- ger, followed by a circumstance that sees the child suffering from a severe disabil- ity. The findings showed that 20.2% of peo- ple agreed with abortion if the child is suffering from a severe disability, a slight uptick of almost two points since Febru- ary 2018. Opposition to abortion in this cir- cumstance stood at 64.9%, a drop of 2.5 points, while those who were unsure stood at 14.9%. This was a point of much controversy in the run-up to the European Parlia- ment election campaign when far-right candidate Norman Lowell suggested on TV, abortion in cases where the child was suffering from a debilitating disabil- ity. His comments were heavily criticised with the Commissioner for the Rights of Disabled Persons, Oliver Scicluna, re- porting Lowell to the police. Opposition to abortion is also strong in those cases were the mother is under 16 years of age and a child herself. The results showed that 91.5% disa- greed with abortion in this circum- stance, a two-point drop since February 2018. Only 5.2% agreed with abortion if the mother is under-16, an upward tick of two points. Abortion viewed more favourably among young Attitudes towards abortion are more favourable among those aged under-35, No change in Malta's anti-abortion attitudes The second survey in 17 months dealing with abortion finds little has changed apart from growing opposition to abortion if a mother's life is in danger. Kurt Sansone reports MaltaToday Survey | Abortion Do you agree with unrestricted abortion in the ¦rst three months of pregnancy (12 weeks)? ALL PL PN Did not vote M F 18-35 36-50 51-65 65+ Primary Secondary Post-Sec Tertiary Gozo Northern Northern Harbour South Eastern Southern Harbour Western 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 90.2% 89.6% 95.6% 86.4% 90.3% 90.1% 12.3% 81.4% 86.5% 9.0% 98.0% 98.4% 98.0% 93.8% 8.4% 89.6% 10.1% 81.0% 8.9% 100.0% 90.1% 88.2% 89.2% 90.2% 90.6% Yes No Don't know Do you agree with abortion in the ¦rst three months of pregnancy (12 weeks) but only in particular cases? ALL PL PN Did not vote M F 18-35 36-50 51-65 65+ Primary Secondary Post-Sec Tertiary Gozo Northern Northern Harbour South Eastern Southern Harbour Western 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 9.2% 87.5% 10.9% 86.7% 6.3% 92.7% 10.8% 83.4% 7.8% 89.1% 10.7% 86.0% 17.6% 79.7% 9.1% 83.6% 7.2% 95.1% 94.6% 93.6% 6.4% 91.0% 9.9% 86.5% 17.1% 79.5% 100.0% 8.4% 89.8% 12.1% 86.0% 9.1% 86.5% 9.6% 85.7% 8.5% 85.3% 6.2% Yes No Don't know Do you agree with abortion if the mother's life is in danger? The findings show that 90.2% oppose unrestricted abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy with 5.2% in favour