The Christian Institute

News Release

Three in four women back 20 weeks or lower abortion limit

Most people and three in four women (73 per cent) think the abortion limit in Great Britain should be reduced to 20 weeks or lower in line with laws in other EU countries, a new poll shows.

In a poll conducted this month by ComRes for The Christian Institute, over 1000 GB adults were asked whether they thought the UK should lower its abortion time limit in light of the fact that in most other EU countries the limit is 12 weeks or lower.

* 58 per cent of people thought that the time limit should be reduced to 20 weeks or lower, or that abortion should be banned.

* Among women, 73 per cent supported a reduction to 20 weeks or lower, or a complete ban; 41 per cent thought the limit should be 12 weeks or lower.

Colin Hart, Director of The Christian Institute, said: “These results clearly show that the British public want to see an end to late abortions.

“We have one of Europe’s latest cut-off points for social abortion. Two thirds of EU countries fix their limit below ours, with most banning abortion for social reasons after 12 weeks’ gestation.

“The UK, with its 24 week upper time limit, has one of the highest abortion rates in Western Europe. Most people agree that something must be done to curb the startling number of abortions – over 200,000 – that are performed here every year.

“These poll results show that most Britons want to see our abortion time limit brought into line with the rest of Europe. We hope MPs will listen to the opinion of the public on this issue.”

To see how the UK compares with other EU countries, please visit: https://www.christian.org.uk/issues/2007/hte_bill/abortionpoll/euabortion_may08.pdf

Polling details: ComRes interviewed 1,014 GB adults by telephone between 2nd and 4th May 2008. Data were weighted to be representative demographically of all GB adults. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. See www.comres.co.uk