Canadians do not Support Status Quo on Abortion
By Carroll Rees

For the fourth year in a row, polls have shown that Canada’s present situation in which the unborn child has no legal protection until birth is out of step with the views of the majority of Canadians.  The most recent Environics poll, commissioned by LifeCanada and conducted in September and October 2005, asked 2,024 Canadians several questions about abortion.  The results confirm the findings of past polls which found that Canadians believe that human beings should be protected at some point before birth, would support  “informed consent” laws, parental consent for women under the age of 18 to have an abortion, and prefer that abortions be paid for privately or publicly funded only in cases of emergencies such as to protect the mother’s life of in cases of rape or incest.
           
The 2005 poll results are consistent with long-term trends.  The numbers supporting the pro-life position have slipped slightly this year but when compared to the two previous years we realize that it was the findings of 2004 which tended to be much higher than other years.  For example, the number of Canadians who say that the unborn child should be protected some time before birth has fallen from 68 to 60% in one year but when this figure is compared to the poll results of 2002 we see that it is still 4 points higher (56% in 2002).  Support for legal protection of the unborn child from the point of birth is at 33%, slightly higher than in 2002 (30%), 2003 (38%) and 2004 (28%).
           
One of the interesting findings about this question is that the number of Canadians living in Quebec who would support legal protection for the unborn child from the moment of conception is higher at 34% than the national average of 30%.  Also, 34% of women compared to only 24% of men would support legal protection from conception on.  It was reported that 36% of men believe that human life should only be protected at birth, somewhat higher than among women (31%).
           
Canadians were asked once again if they would support informed consent laws which would require that women, before having an abortion, be given information about fetal development including an ultrasound scan, the possible complications and side effects and told about alternatives to abortion.  A large majority (70%) said they would support such laws.  This number is down 3 points from 2004 (73%) but up from the figure for 2003 which was 69%.  It is interesting to note that support for informed consent is almost the same for men (69%) and women (70%).
           
The third question focused on the reality that, presently in Canada, minors under the age of 18 can have an abortion without their parent’s consent.  When Canadians were given this information and asked if they would support a law which would require that minors under the age of 18 require parental consent to have an abortion, the majority said yes (56%).  Only 49% of those in the 18 to 29 age group supported parental consent laws but the majority of Canadians in all other age groups were very supportive: 59% of 30 to 44 year olds, 54% of 45 to 59 year olds, and 59% of those over 60 years of age.
           
A large majority of Canadians (68%) would favour de-insuring abortions: 50% say that abortions should be publicly funded only in cases of medical emergency or in cases of rape and incest and a further 18% believe abortions should be a private responsibility either paid for out of pocket or through private health care plans such as Blue Cross.  Only 29% support the present practice of public funding for almost all abortions.
           
For more information on the 2005 poll results, please see LifeCanada’s website which is located at www.lifecanada.org.  There you will find the tables, a professional report by Environics in both English and French and LifeCanada’s press release.

Carroll Rees is the Executive Director of LifeCanada