A majority of Australians support banning abortion after 24 weeks or earlier, as long as exceptional circumstances do not apply, a new poll has found.
The poll of 1,513 adults, conducted by McCrindle for pro-life activist group CitizenGO in late August and early September, also found that large majorities want sex-selective abortion to be illegal both up to and after 24 weeks.
According to the survey, 58.6% of respondents want abortion banned after 24 weeks or earlier where serious health risks, fetal disability and sexual assault do not apply, and 50.4% supported a ban after 20 weeks or earlier under the same conditions.
Women showed stronger support than men, with 59.9% of females in favour of a ban after 24 weeks or earlier, compared with 57.1% of men. For the 20 weeks or earlier ban, 53.2% of women were in favour and 47.4% of men.
When asked about abortions carried out because the unborn child was not the preferred sex, 67% said they wanted it to be illegal up to 24 weeks, and 69.2% said it should be illegal after 24 weeks.
A large-scale study released last year indicated that immigrant mothers from China and India are skewing sex ratios in Australia by preferencing male babies and aborting females.
The new poll also found that 74.8% support equal care being provided to babies born alive following an unsuccessful abortion, and 83.4% support requiring providers to check that patients are not being coerced.
Another 54.5% said abortion should be illegal after 24 weeks when a pregnancy interfered with education, career or life stage, and 51.8% said it should be banned if the reason is personal preference without a specified hardship or medical risk.
CitizenGO’s Australian campaigns director, former Liberal National Party and One Nation MP George Christensen, said the poll showed there was a mandate for changing abortion laws.
“Parliamentarians should have the confidence to act on these findings and strengthen protections for unborn children,” he said.
Anti-abortion activists held a rally outside NSW Parliament last month to support a bill by Libertarian MP John Ruddick seeking to ban sex-selective abortions.
One Nation’s NSW leader Mike Newman spoke at the rally where he said he wanted abortion “stopped”, but later clarified party policy was not to ban it outright, and he was referring to late-term and sex-selective abortions.
Header image: The anti-abortion rally in Sydney in September (Dr Joanna Howe – Instagram).
