THE vast majority of women want to
see further curbs on abortion, according to a poll yesterday.
Eight out of ten believe
terminations carried out at the lawful limit of 24 weeks of pregnancy
are cruel.
And an even higher proportion of
people think parents should have the right to know if their daughter is
offered an abortion while under 16.
The poll – carried out
amid growing pressure for a rethink on a law unchanged since 1990
– revealed concern at the spread of terminations.
Nearly 200,000 are carried out in
Britain each year.
But the feminist principle of
‘a woman’s right to choose’ led to
two-thirds of people believing choice should outweigh the rights of an
unborn child.
The
survey, carried out for the anti-abortion umbrella group Choose Life,
follows mounting evidence that foetuses have a high chance of survival
outside the womb by 24 weeks.
In the poll, two- thirds of women
and men said the law has failed to keep pace with scientific knowledge.
There was also deepening unease at
the perception that abortion has, in many cases, become a routine form
of contraception. More than eight out of ten women support official
funds going to groups offering alternatives to terminations, such as
adoption.
