Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/936285
10 A bortion remains an unassailable bastion in this country's secular drive with MaltaToday's latest survey showing an overwhelming rejection across all age groups. Asked whether they agreed with abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy in particular circum- stances that were not specified, 83% said No. The rejection was stronger (95%) when asked whether they agreed with unrestricted abortion in the first 12 weeks and unrestricted abortion at whatever stage of the pregnancy (97%). The only instance in which a relative majority agree with abor- tion is if the mother's life is in dan- ger. This would appear to be the only exception people are ready to make with 46% agreeing with abortion against 27% who disagree and 27% who are unsure of where they stand on the matter. It is pertinent to note that Mal- tese law makes no exceptions and abortion is illegal in all instances and punishable by prison. The survey also asked respond- ents whether abortion was accept- able to them if the unborn child is suffering from a severe disability and 67% said No, as opposed to 18% who said Yes and 14% who were unsure. Rape is no excuse Abortion in cases where the woman becomes pregnant as a re- sult of rape is only acceptable for 15% of respondents as opposed to 72% who disagreed and 13%, who were uncertain of where they stood. And a pregnant girl under the age of 16 has almost no support to bank on if she wants to get an abortion. Asked whether they agreed with terminat- ing the pregnancy in this circumstance, 94% said No, 3% said Yes and another 3% were un- sure. This pattern of results for all ques- tions was replicat- ed roughly across all age groups. There was a slightly stronger slant towards u n r e s t r i c t e d abortion in the first three months of p r e g n a n c y among those aged between 18 and 35 but even here the level of agree- ment only reached 6% as op- posed to 94% of the age group who disa- greed. The cohort 18-35 also delivered the only absolute majority in fa- vour of abortion (52%), when asked whether they agree with the termination of a pregnancy if the mother's life is in danger. However, when asked whether they agreed with abortion if the child is suffering from a severe dis- maltatoday SUNDAY 4 FEBRUARY 2018 MaltaToday Survey PHOTO BY JANKO FERLIC/PEXELS Steadfastly anti-abortion The big non-debate: abortion remains a no-go area for Maltese KURT SANSONE writes These figures suggest Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was not off mark when in his curt reply to the Council of Europe's Human Rights Commissioner last month he said that public opinion was against abortion