According to the poll by Ayres McHenry Associates, voters said abortion should be illegal in the following instances:
-- The woman does not like the sex of the baby (79 percent said that should be illegal, 17 percent said it should be legal.)
-- The woman says a child would interfere with her career or education plans (72 percent illegal, 24 percent legal).
-- The fetus has a "physical abnormality" that could be repaired, such as a cleft palate (66 percent illegal, 28 percent legal).
-- The woman says she cannot afford to raise a child (65 percent illegal, 31 percent legal).
-- The woman says she has enough children (64 percent illegal, 32 percent legal).
-- The woman says she's not ready to raise a child (63 percent illegal, 32 percent legal).
-- The woman is not married (62 percent illegal, 32 percent legal).
-- The pregnancy could pose depression or other mental health problems (51 percent illegal, 42 percent legal).
The poll also found that voters believe abortion should be allowed in four instances: If a pregnancy would endanger the life of the woman (75 percent said it should be legal, while 18 percent said it should be illegal); if the pregnancy poses a treat to the physical health of the woman (70 percent legal, 21 percent illegal); if the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest (70 percent legal, 24 percent illegal); and if the fetus has a serious physical or mental deformity (55 percent legal, 36 percent illegal).
But those latter four instances make up only a small percentage of abortions. According to the aforementioned Guttmacher Institute study, 25 percent of women in the 2004 survey said they were having an abortion because they weren't ready for a child, 23 percent because they said they couldn't afford to have one, 19 percent because they didn't want any more children, 8 percent because they didn't want to be a single mother or they had relationship problems, 7 percent because they said they were too young to have a child and 4 percent because they believed a child would interfere with their education or career. That's a combined 86 percent of all abortions.
We should ask these same questions in Canada. I'd be interested in knowing the results of the questions.
Source.
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