LIFE DIGEST: More than 80 percent favor abortion limits
- Jan 5, 2009 -
More than 80 percent of Americans believe legal abortion should be either prohibited or limited, according to a new survey.
The poll of U.S. adults shows 11 percent support a total ban on abortion, 38 percent favor restricting abortion to cases of rape, incest or a threat to the life of the mother and 33 percent endorse limiting the procedure to the first three or six months of pregnancy. Nine percent favored unlimited abortion rights throughout pregnancy.
Abortions may be performed at any stage of pregnancy in the United States, based on the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions. Under more recent high court rulings, states may enact some restrictions on the procedure.
The online poll, commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and conducted by Harris Interactive, also found strong majorities favor specific laws limiting abortion. Among the findings were:
- 88 percent support informed consent laws, which require abortion providers to inform mothers of possible risks to their health and of abortion alternatives.
- 76 percent back laws that protect health-care providers from being required to perform abortions or to refer women to doctors who will conduct the procedures.
- 73 percent favor laws requiring parental involvement in a minor’s abortion.
- 63 percent support laws banning the use of government funds to pay for abortions.
A USCCB official described the results as “remarkable.”
“Support for these measures cuts across ‘pro-life’ and ‘pro-choice’ positions,” said Deidre McQuade, assistant director for policy and communications with the USCCB’s Secretariat of Pro-life Activities. Even 35 percent of those who favored unlimited abortion rights supported at least three of the six abortion-restrictive laws presented to respondents in the survey, she said.
“This research indicates how out of touch pro-abortion groups are with mainstream America,” McQuade said.
Abortion-rights advocates in Congress are expected to promote legislation overturning pro-life policies, including those barring federal funding of abortion and abortion advocacy. President-elect Barack Obama has endorsed the Freedom of Choice Act, which would strike down all limitations on abortion.
British P.M. opposes assisted suicide
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown confirmed he is opposed to overturning laws against physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia.
Brown told the leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales he is “totally against laws” in support of the now illegal practices, BBC News reported Dec. 30. British law provides for a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison for a person found guilty of assisting in a suicide, according to the report.
“I think this debate about assisted suicide, it’s not really for us to create any legislation that would put pressure on people to feel that they had to offer themselves because they were causing trouble to a relative or anything else,” Brown said in an interview with Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, the BBC reported. “So I think we have got to make it absolutely clear that the importance of human life is recognized.”
Earlier in December, Brown had said during Prime Minister’s Questions in Parliament he had “always opposed legislation for assisted suicide,” according to the BBC.
Brown’s comments came after the news media focused much attention on the assisted suicide in September of 23-year-old Daniel James. The former rugby player killed himself with aid from Dignitas, a pro-assisted-suicide group in Switzerland. It is believed more than 100 Brits have gone to Switzerland to die with the assistance of Dignitas, the BBC reported.
Wesley Smith, an American bioethics specialist, commended Brown, saying, “He’s not only right morally, but it is the right policy. If society doesn’t value everyone’s life equally, the result will be discrimination and oppression—as in The Netherlands, where doctors kill hundreds of patients every year who have never asked to be [euthanized].
“Moreover, legalizing assisted suicide for the terminally ill—the first stop on that particular train—would not stop suicide tourism. Many of those who go to Switzerland to die are not terminally ill. Hence, once it became legal for one category of patients to receive assisted suicide, once society deemed suicide to be a necessity in some cases, the same whipsawing would take place to force society to expand the law to permit others to be killed.”
Abortions on N. Ireland women set record
A record number of Northern Ireland residents went to England and Wales for abortions in 2007.
There were 1,343 abortions performed on women from Northern Ireland in those two countries, surpassing the 2006 total by 48 and the 2005 total by 179, according to a Jan. 2 report in the Belfast Telegraph. The report was based on statistics released by Northern Ireland’s health minister, Michael McGimpsey.
Abortion is illegal in Northern Ireland, with the exception of when the mother’s life is severely threatened, according to the Telegraph.
It is believed the number of women leaving Northern Ireland for abortions may be much higher, the Telegraph reported. The statistics did not account for women who go to Scotland and other countries for the lethal procedure.
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission works to protect the sanctity of human life. If you would like to learn more about this issue, additional resources are available here. Our free, downloadable Impact resource on the sanctity of human life is now available at iLiveValues.com. Additional resources, including bulletin inserts, are available for purchase on our online bookstore and erlc.com.
Further Learning
Learn more about: Life, Abortion, End-of-Life Issues, Suicide