Opinions regarding Irish attitudes to abortion in various circumstances has been measured in research commissioned by Marie Stopes Reproductive Choices released today. The research is being released in conjunction with a new booklet on reproductive choices being launched by the organisation on International Womens Day. (Marie Stopes is a Dublin based sexual and reproductive health specialist service providing (for a fee) unplanned pregnancy counselling and contraception services.)
The research indicates growing support for legalised abortion in Ireland and an understanding of the different situations faced by women in unplanned pregnancies.
- More than three quarters of respondents (79%) agreed that termination of pregnancy should be permitted if the woman’s health is at risk;
- Nearly eight out of 10 respondents (78%) agreed that termination of pregnancy should be permitted if the pregnancy is the result of sexual abuse / rape or incest;
- Just under two thirds of respondents (62%) agreed that termination of pregnancy should be permitted if there is evidence of a profound foetal abnormality;
- Over four out of 10 respondents (41%) agreed that termination of pregnancy should be permitted if the woman believes it is in her and / or her family’s best interest;
- Three per cent of respondents felt that abortion in Ireland is not acceptable under any circumstances.
The results of the research have been welcomed by the Irish Family Planning Association and are broadly in line with Irish Examiner commissioned research by RED C published earlier this year which showed that 3 out of 5 18-35 year olds believed that abortion in Ireland should be legalised.
In addition to the results themselves I’m interested to see that the research was conducted by YouGov PLC, the first research in Ireland by this company that I’ve come across. YouGov online research is used extensively in the UK by media groups, political parties and organisations researching a wide range of topics. The research for Marie Stopes was conducted in December 2009. The total sample size was 1002 adults. YouGov say the figures have been weighted and are representative of all adults from Ireland(aged 18+).
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If it is put to the vote again then I suspect the pro-choice casmpaign would lose.
The prolife campaigners are extraordinarily manipulative in their arguements.
41% : John McGuirk // Mar 8, 2010 at 12:57
[...] is the number of people, according to the much-heralded YouGov survey commissioned by a pro-choice group, who think a woman has the right to terminate the life of her unborn child because she [...]
There’s a bit of a nonsense argument here when it comes to the health of the mother. This is one of the safest countries in the world to be pregnant. For example, in Britain for example, a woman is more than three times likely to die during childbirth that in Ireland. In the Netherlands, meanwhile, a woman is four times more likely to die in childbirth than in Ireland.
The reality is that women iN ireland receive all the medical attention they need during pregnancy.
As regards killing disabled children in the womb, I find it extraordinary that anyone would support that. We have fought so hard in this country for rights for disabled persons, it is amazing now that people are proposing attacking the most vulnerable.
The Marie Stopes website had an online poll recently asking people if abortion should be legal in Ireland. 94% of people said no…then the poll disappeared. That makes me suspicious of all their stats if they are hiding the bad ones…
Hi The Shape – it’s a reputable international polling company who have conducted the research. The other side don’t have the best record on the matter of research by the way – you’d know more about that given your employment or where you are posting from – how are the Dominicans these days?
Hi it amazes me that you all have such an opinion re the laws in ireland. I recently had to experience a still birth of my baby girl. She had severe abnormalities. But here’s what you don’t know about the law . The baby was diagnosed at 17 weeks and we were told she won’t survive so for 10 weeks I had to go to hosiptal to have a scan to see when or if she died . Thanks to Irish law I have been through 3 months of hell. My only option was to wait or go to uk . Since I couldn’t afford to travel nor did I want to leave my other children. So please hold your opinions about aborption law being righteous . It causes unjustified heartache and stress.
Oh and before anyone one makes assumptions I am a practing and devote catholic .
Heartbroken, thanks for leaving your comment and I’m sorry both for the loss of your child and everything you experienced during that time. MP
None of these polls seem to have a category for my opinion on terminations, which is; I’m a man, I have no right to tell women what they should do. When men can get pregnant, come back and ask me again.
Hello. My heart is with you HeartBroken. Only a few weeks ago my wife lost a child. She was 20+ weeks pregnant with a little girl. We had a scan and the childs brain had not developed properly (anencephaly). She would not survive more than a day after birth, and in most cases would die before that. We could not handle the pain and grief that would be inflicted on our family to complete the pregnancy to full term.
After great difficulty in getting the information we required, we traveled to the UK at a crippling expense to us for a termination. With no family support for us while we were away we had the trauma of aborting a desperately wanted child.
We are now suffering the weight of grief and guilt on a daily basis.
Our state and its abortion laws are massively lacking in basic compassion for people in our horrible situation. Our abortion laws are influenced too heavily by an element in this state thats sees the world in black and white.
It is very easy to stand upon high and make judgements of others based on an idealogy.
I believe this country’s laws do not reflect the beliefs of an entire generation of its people. We are ready for a change. All that is needed is leadership. Someone with courage to tackle what are seen as taboo issues.
@Gerard – perhaps I misunderstood, but I couldn’t disagree more with you more. My wife and I lost a baby at 19 weeks. Our little girl (Aobhin) was perfectly healthy. My wife went into involuntary labour because of a weak cervix.
I was devastated. My grief was no less than my wife’s. We both lost so many hopes and dreams as Aobhin, her tiny chest rising and falling with each laboured breath, slipped out of our lives over a period of three hours.
A child represents far more that the physical being. They represent hopes and dreams in the same way as we hold the memories of our departed as cherished and precious.
Just because a woman carries a baby, does not give her exclusive rights to the all too restrictive choices we have in this country, that put people like ‘heartbroken’ in unbearable situations.
If you’re going to give an opinion about a mans’ rights – give an informed one.
@Paul. Obviously you and your wife lost a child that you both loved and wanted. I hope I never have that experience, and I can sympathise with your grief, my point was that men with strong opinions against terminations, especially on religious grounds, cannot possibly know the heartache and suffering of women who are considering a termination go through.
In the same way that someone who has never experienced the loss of a child cannot truly understand the feelings of a parent (of either sex) who has. Decisions on terminations are deeply traumatic and personal; no woman decides to have a termination lightly. How is it that we men feel that we can issue rules and guidelines to women that we don’t even know in that situation?
I have been pro-choice all my life. Calling anti-choice people pro-life insinuates the opposite being anti-life or pro-death. That is incorrect. Anti-choice is a more accurate term to use and this is what I call the people who do no believe in a woman’s right to choose what she wants to do with her own body. A baby is not a baby before its born. It’s a foetus and part of the woman in whose uterus it resides. Men should have no say in what a woman is to do with her pregnancy, nor should anyone aside from the woman herself. It should be her choice whether to give birth or not.
I am saddened that less than half of the respondents are really pro-choice. It is perplexing that a large majority of respondents put the foetus ahead of a woman’s life. If it is diagnosed with any of the several conditions which make the foetus not viable, then who, aside from the pregnant woman (not a mother until she gives birth) is to choose what she wants to do with her body? Whether a woman believes herself to be incapable of raising a child, be it mentally or financially, or if she is does not want a child at that time, or the child would not survive after being born, or if the pregnancy would terminate before due date: any reason – it is her choice whether she wants to carry the pregnancy to term, or if she wants to abort.
I don’t have the right to tell people what to do with their bodies, and I don’t belive that anyone else should have a say in what I do with mine. Pro-choice is not wanting to advocate every woman to abort, it’s putting the choice in the woman’s own hands, without coercion from anti-choice groups and individuals. The law should not restrict a woman’s right to choose. I am ashamed that it does so in Ireland.
Obviously Irish law needs to be changed to allow abortion if the mother or the child will die otherwise. The pain caused to women under the current legal situation is unnecessary. There is an argument to be made, however, that a fetus is a human. The situation is not black and white as there are very large grey areas. Before anyone yet again accuses people who are not in favour of abortion rights of being Catholic …, I’m opposed to religious beliefe being imposed on poeple. In fact I supprt marriage equality for gay people and adoption rights for gay couples. I also oppose the death penalty, as does the Roman Catholic Church. Maman Poulet probably opposes the death penalty but wouldn’t accuse a Roman Catholic who opposed the death penalty of forcing his/her religious beliefe on others. Religions often spread bigotry including homophobia but sometimes a religion has a belief which I agree with.
@MamanPoulet – Only just noticed your response to my comment some months ago. I wasn’t claiming that the Catholic research was accurate. My comment was about the suspicious disappearance of the poll on that website. You obviously trawled through my blog to find out more about me and where I work and what I do. You obviously didn’t look closely or you would have seen that I’m not Catholic and do not draw my views from the Catholic church. Saying that…I do enjoy this blog.
The Dominicans are fine by the way…