AUTHENTIC LIBERTARIANS
Majority of Canadians remain pro-choice regardless of circumstancesCanada is unique among G20 nations for having no laws whatsoever governing abortion.
ABORTION IS HEALTHCARE
Story by Liz Braun • Yesterday
Toronto Sun
Pro-choice protesters dressed in red robes as characters from The Handmaid's Tale hold signs on Parliament Hill during the National March for Life in Ottawa, Ont., on May 12, 2022.
© Provided by Toronto Sun
A new Angus-Reid poll shows the majority of Canadians (52%) remain completely pro-choice and believe abortion is acceptable at any time in a pregnancy and for any reason.
Only 8% are totally pro-life, believing abortion is never acceptable, except where the health of the mother is in danger.
Another 41% consider themselves somewhere in between.
One in five Canadian pregnancies ends in abortion. One is six women has had an abortion.
Very few regret their decision.
Among women who have had an abortion ( Part One of the poll ), 58% are pro-choice, 6% are pro-life and 36% are somewhere in the middle, with no hard-and-fast rule — although 61% of the “in between” group are pro-choice based on timing.
(Of that 36%, a third are okay with abortion until 15 weeks of pregnancy, a quarter say abortion is acceptable until 23 or 24 weeks, and another third say they just don’t know at what point in a pregnancy abortion is or is not acceptable.)
In Part One of their poll, Angus Reid poll canvassed women about abortion.
About two in five women (41%) say someone close to them has had an abortion. One is six women has had an abortion (16%), and the same number of women (15%) carried an unwanted pregnancy to term.
Among the women who had an abortion, an overwhelming majority (65%) said they had made the right decision. Another 28% likewise stand by their decision but have some regrets.
Somewhat fewer (54%) who carried an unwanted pregnancy to term say they made the right decision, with 25% also standing by their decision but having some regrets.
There have been 3.2. million Canadian abortions over the last 25 years, with a greater number performed on women who vote Conservative.
Women across the political spectrum have had an abortion or are close to another woman who did so, with 18% of Conservative voters, 14% of Liberal voters and 16% of NDP voters saying they have had an abortion themselves.
The language of the poll discusses “unwanted or unplanned” pregnancies; it is not specified whether planned pregnancies ended for medical reasons (non-viable fetus; health of mother) are included in these figures.
The second part of the poll centres on gender, age, experience and faith, and how those factors affect views on abortion.
Young women (aged 18-34) are most likely to be completely pro-choice (65%) — but also most likely to be completely pro-life (14%).
Among religious Canadians, 40% voice pro-life sentiments, 21% are pro-choice and 39% are somewhere in between.
The majority of Canadians prioritize the rights of the mother over the rights of the fetus.
As the National Post reports , Canada is unique among G20 nations for having no laws whatsoever governing abortion.
In 1988, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down criminal provisions that previously restricted abortions only to extreme cases where the life of the mother was at risk.
Since then, only former prime minister Brian Mulroney has attempted a bill to impose strict guidelines on elective abortions, and it was defeated by the Senate.
There have been markedly fewer abortions in Canada every year since 2008.
The Angus Reid survey was done online from Aug. 29-30, 2022 with 1,805 Canadian adults who are members of Angus Reid Forum. The margin of error can be considered +/- 2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
A new Angus-Reid poll shows the majority of Canadians (52%) remain completely pro-choice and believe abortion is acceptable at any time in a pregnancy and for any reason.
Only 8% are totally pro-life, believing abortion is never acceptable, except where the health of the mother is in danger.
Another 41% consider themselves somewhere in between.
One in five Canadian pregnancies ends in abortion. One is six women has had an abortion.
Very few regret their decision.
Among women who have had an abortion ( Part One of the poll ), 58% are pro-choice, 6% are pro-life and 36% are somewhere in the middle, with no hard-and-fast rule — although 61% of the “in between” group are pro-choice based on timing.
(Of that 36%, a third are okay with abortion until 15 weeks of pregnancy, a quarter say abortion is acceptable until 23 or 24 weeks, and another third say they just don’t know at what point in a pregnancy abortion is or is not acceptable.)
In Part One of their poll, Angus Reid poll canvassed women about abortion.
About two in five women (41%) say someone close to them has had an abortion. One is six women has had an abortion (16%), and the same number of women (15%) carried an unwanted pregnancy to term.
Among the women who had an abortion, an overwhelming majority (65%) said they had made the right decision. Another 28% likewise stand by their decision but have some regrets.
Somewhat fewer (54%) who carried an unwanted pregnancy to term say they made the right decision, with 25% also standing by their decision but having some regrets.
There have been 3.2. million Canadian abortions over the last 25 years, with a greater number performed on women who vote Conservative.
Women across the political spectrum have had an abortion or are close to another woman who did so, with 18% of Conservative voters, 14% of Liberal voters and 16% of NDP voters saying they have had an abortion themselves.
The language of the poll discusses “unwanted or unplanned” pregnancies; it is not specified whether planned pregnancies ended for medical reasons (non-viable fetus; health of mother) are included in these figures.
The second part of the poll centres on gender, age, experience and faith, and how those factors affect views on abortion.
Young women (aged 18-34) are most likely to be completely pro-choice (65%) — but also most likely to be completely pro-life (14%).
Among religious Canadians, 40% voice pro-life sentiments, 21% are pro-choice and 39% are somewhere in between.
The majority of Canadians prioritize the rights of the mother over the rights of the fetus.
As the National Post reports , Canada is unique among G20 nations for having no laws whatsoever governing abortion.
In 1988, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down criminal provisions that previously restricted abortions only to extreme cases where the life of the mother was at risk.
Since then, only former prime minister Brian Mulroney has attempted a bill to impose strict guidelines on elective abortions, and it was defeated by the Senate.
There have been markedly fewer abortions in Canada every year since 2008.
The Angus Reid survey was done online from Aug. 29-30, 2022 with 1,805 Canadian adults who are members of Angus Reid Forum. The margin of error can be considered +/- 2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
As many as one in five Canadian pregnancies end in abortion and few regret decision, poll finds
Story by Tristin Hopper • Yesterday
Story by Tristin Hopper • Yesterday
National Post
In this May photo, anti-abortion campaigners prepare for the annual National March for Life at the grounds of Parliament Hill.
While abortion remains a more controversial issue to Canadians than its politics would suggest, a new Angus Reid poll found that one in six Canadian women has had an abortion.
What’s more, of the tens of thousands of Canadian women who have undergone abortions, a clear majority say it was the right decision and have no regrets. And when women were asked about their party affiliation, it was Conservative voters who were most likely to have an abortion in their past.
Sixteen per cent of women responding to the poll reported that they have personally undergone an abortion at some point in their lives. A further 41 per cent said that they knew a “close friend or family member” who had undergone one.
Of the women who had undergone abortions, 65 per cent reported that it was the right decision and they had “no regrets,” while another 28 per cent said they stuck by the decision albeit with “some regrets.” Six per cent said they wish they hadn’t had an abortion.
As many as one in five Canadian pregnancies end in abortion and few regret decision, poll finds
Angus Reid pollsters also canvassed women who had rejected abortion and carried an unwanted pregnancy to term. Regrets among this group were actually slightly higher; with 10 per cent saying they wish they had made a “different choice” and only 54 per cent saying that the decision came with no regrets.
Canada is unique among G20 nations for having no laws whatsoever governing abortion. In the 1988 R. v. Morgentaler decision, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down criminal provisions that had previously restricted abortions only to extreme cases in which the life of the mother was at risk.
The Progressive Conservative government of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney responded with a bill that would have imposed strict guidelines on elective abortions. But after the bill was defeated by the Senate, no subsequent Canadian government has ever tried again to pursue limits on abortion.
As many as one in five Canadian pregnancies end in abortion and few regret decision, poll finds
As a result, while individual health agencies maintain their own standards on when to permit abortions, Canadian federal law has nothing to say about pregnancy terminations right up until the point of birth.
Since 1989, there have been roughly 3.3 million Canadian abortions , an average of about 103,000 per year.
With Canadian live births averaging between 350,000 and 400,000 per year, in recent years this has meant that roughly one fifth of all Canadian pregnancies are terminated.
While Canadians have become more comfortable with abortion in the interim 34 years since R. v. Morgentaler, there remain tens of millions who oppose the status quo.
An Ipsos poll from July found that just 56 per cent of Canadians supported abortion “whenever a woman decides she wants one.” An Ipsos poll from the year prior found that up to a quarter of Canadians opposed abortion in almost all cases.
Notably, the July poll found that support for abortion was starting to wane among Canadians born in the wake of the Morgentaler decision. While 63 per cent of Canadian seniors support elective abortion in all cases, this proportion shrunk to just 50 per cent among Canadians born after 1988.
Chart showing how unconditional support for abortion is stronger among older Canadians than younger Canadians.© Ipsos
This roughly aligns with a marked decrease in the numbers of Canadian women who are seeking abortions. After Canadian abortions peaked in the early 2000s, the raw number of terminated pregnancies has been decreasing markedly every year since 2008.
In 2008, there were roughly 116,000 Canadian abortions — an average of 317 per day. By 2020, this was down to 75,000 – an average of 205 per day.
The Angus Reid Institute poll showed a similar trend. Nearly one quarter (23 per cent) of women aged 45-54 reported having personally undergone an abortion. Among women aged 18 to 34, that proportion was only 11 per cent.
Lukewarm Canadian attitudes to abortion all stand in contrast to much of Central and Western Europe, where abortion increasingly enjoys near-universal support.
A 2018 Pew Research poll found that more than 90 per cent of respondents in the Scandinavian countries of Sweden and Denmark favoured abortion in “all or most cases.”
Even Ireland was found to have higher overall support for abortion than Canada. As recently as 2018, abortion in Ireland was illegal as per an amendment to the country’s constitution. The measure was subsequently repealed following a referendum in which 66.4 per cent of Irish voters supported legal abortion.
Poll results from 2018 showing public support for abortion across Europe.© Pew Research Centre
According to Pew Research, roughly that same proportion of Irish citizens continue to favour abortion in “all or most cases.”
While abortion continues to be a major political issue in the United States, Canada is notable in that every major political party has spent the last 20 years explicitly vowing not to “reopen” the abortion debate. This includes the last four Conservative Party leaders.
One reason for this might lie in the fact that Canadian Conservatives seem to be having abortions at rates roughly on par with their NDP or Liberal opponents.
As many as one in five Canadian pregnancies end in abortion and few regret decision, poll finds
Eighteen per cent of Canadian women who voted Conservative told the Angus Reid Institute that they had personally undergone an abortion. This was against 14 per cent for Liberal voters, and 16 per cent for NDPers.
Angus Reid surveyed 1,805 Canadian members of the Angus Reid forum online from Aug. 29 to 30. A margin of error cannot be calculated for an online survey.
In this May photo, anti-abortion campaigners prepare for the annual National March for Life at the grounds of Parliament Hill.
While abortion remains a more controversial issue to Canadians than its politics would suggest, a new Angus Reid poll found that one in six Canadian women has had an abortion.
What’s more, of the tens of thousands of Canadian women who have undergone abortions, a clear majority say it was the right decision and have no regrets. And when women were asked about their party affiliation, it was Conservative voters who were most likely to have an abortion in their past.
Sixteen per cent of women responding to the poll reported that they have personally undergone an abortion at some point in their lives. A further 41 per cent said that they knew a “close friend or family member” who had undergone one.
Of the women who had undergone abortions, 65 per cent reported that it was the right decision and they had “no regrets,” while another 28 per cent said they stuck by the decision albeit with “some regrets.” Six per cent said they wish they hadn’t had an abortion.
As many as one in five Canadian pregnancies end in abortion and few regret decision, poll finds
Angus Reid pollsters also canvassed women who had rejected abortion and carried an unwanted pregnancy to term. Regrets among this group were actually slightly higher; with 10 per cent saying they wish they had made a “different choice” and only 54 per cent saying that the decision came with no regrets.
Canada is unique among G20 nations for having no laws whatsoever governing abortion. In the 1988 R. v. Morgentaler decision, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down criminal provisions that had previously restricted abortions only to extreme cases in which the life of the mother was at risk.
The Progressive Conservative government of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney responded with a bill that would have imposed strict guidelines on elective abortions. But after the bill was defeated by the Senate, no subsequent Canadian government has ever tried again to pursue limits on abortion.
As many as one in five Canadian pregnancies end in abortion and few regret decision, poll finds
As a result, while individual health agencies maintain their own standards on when to permit abortions, Canadian federal law has nothing to say about pregnancy terminations right up until the point of birth.
Since 1989, there have been roughly 3.3 million Canadian abortions , an average of about 103,000 per year.
With Canadian live births averaging between 350,000 and 400,000 per year, in recent years this has meant that roughly one fifth of all Canadian pregnancies are terminated.
While Canadians have become more comfortable with abortion in the interim 34 years since R. v. Morgentaler, there remain tens of millions who oppose the status quo.
An Ipsos poll from July found that just 56 per cent of Canadians supported abortion “whenever a woman decides she wants one.” An Ipsos poll from the year prior found that up to a quarter of Canadians opposed abortion in almost all cases.
Notably, the July poll found that support for abortion was starting to wane among Canadians born in the wake of the Morgentaler decision. While 63 per cent of Canadian seniors support elective abortion in all cases, this proportion shrunk to just 50 per cent among Canadians born after 1988.
Chart showing how unconditional support for abortion is stronger among older Canadians than younger Canadians.© Ipsos
This roughly aligns with a marked decrease in the numbers of Canadian women who are seeking abortions. After Canadian abortions peaked in the early 2000s, the raw number of terminated pregnancies has been decreasing markedly every year since 2008.
In 2008, there were roughly 116,000 Canadian abortions — an average of 317 per day. By 2020, this was down to 75,000 – an average of 205 per day.
The Angus Reid Institute poll showed a similar trend. Nearly one quarter (23 per cent) of women aged 45-54 reported having personally undergone an abortion. Among women aged 18 to 34, that proportion was only 11 per cent.
Lukewarm Canadian attitudes to abortion all stand in contrast to much of Central and Western Europe, where abortion increasingly enjoys near-universal support.
A 2018 Pew Research poll found that more than 90 per cent of respondents in the Scandinavian countries of Sweden and Denmark favoured abortion in “all or most cases.”
Even Ireland was found to have higher overall support for abortion than Canada. As recently as 2018, abortion in Ireland was illegal as per an amendment to the country’s constitution. The measure was subsequently repealed following a referendum in which 66.4 per cent of Irish voters supported legal abortion.
Poll results from 2018 showing public support for abortion across Europe.© Pew Research Centre
According to Pew Research, roughly that same proportion of Irish citizens continue to favour abortion in “all or most cases.”
While abortion continues to be a major political issue in the United States, Canada is notable in that every major political party has spent the last 20 years explicitly vowing not to “reopen” the abortion debate. This includes the last four Conservative Party leaders.
One reason for this might lie in the fact that Canadian Conservatives seem to be having abortions at rates roughly on par with their NDP or Liberal opponents.
As many as one in five Canadian pregnancies end in abortion and few regret decision, poll finds
Eighteen per cent of Canadian women who voted Conservative told the Angus Reid Institute that they had personally undergone an abortion. This was against 14 per cent for Liberal voters, and 16 per cent for NDPers.
Angus Reid surveyed 1,805 Canadian members of the Angus Reid forum online from Aug. 29 to 30. A margin of error cannot be calculated for an online survey.
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