68% of respondents to a church-commissioned survey said that they are against abortion if the prospective mother’s life is not at risk, but 77.7% said that they are in favour it if the same mother’s life is in danger.
In a statement, the Archdiocese of Malta said that it had commissioned a survey which was carried out by Misco towards the end of November, featuring 800 respondents.
The survey found that 68% of respondents to the survey said they are opposed to abortion if the pregnancy does not place the mother’s life at risk.
Out of those however, a majority of respondents – 53.8% - in the 16 to 24 years of age demographic said that they agree with abortion when the mother’s life is not at risk, with 31.2% in this demographic saying that they disagreed and the remaining 14.9% saying that they did not know.
Older demographics all had a majority which disagreed with abortion in this case, with the level of disagreement increasing as the demographic gets older.
Conversely, 77.7% favour a medical intervention that results in the termination of pregnancy in circumstances where a woman’s life is in danger, the Curia said in a statement.
Again the highest rate of agreement in this case was to be found in younger demographics: 85.1% of those aged between 16 and 24 and 86% of those aged between 25 and 34 were in favour.
Lowest rate of agreement was in those aged between 55 and 64, with 68.9% - just over two-thirds – agreeing with medical intervention in this case.
Meanwhile, one-fifth of respondents, 19.8%, agreed that abortion can be used a means of limiting the size of a family, irrespective of whether a mother’s health or life is at risk.
Respondents were asked three questions during the survey:
- Do you agree or disagree with abortion in the following circumstances? When the pregnancy endangers the life of the mother.
- Do you agree or disagree with abortion in the following circumstances? When the pregnancy does not endanger the life of the mother.
- Do you agree or disagree with abortion in the following circumstances? When the mother does not wish to have more children.
With regard to the question of abortion in cases where a woman’s life is not at risk, the Curia observed that 58% of women and 78% of men expressed themselves against, while opposition to abortion increases significantly in the categories above 24 years of age.
Parliament gave the thumbs up to a controversial proposal to amend the Criminal Code to allow abortions to take place when there is a grave risk to the prospective mother’s health in a first vote on the matter held on Monday.
The vote passed with a 42 to 34 majority, with all Nationalist Party MPs voting against the bill.
The vote was on the second reading of the bill, meaning that the amendments have not been become law yet. It will now go to parliamentary committee stages where changes can be made before returning for a final vote.
The Curia described the amendment as one “which would permit an abortion to take place not only when a mother’s life is at risk but also in cases where there is ‘grave risk to a woman’s health’.”
The Church has expressed extreme concern over any legislative change that would permit the termination of a pregnancy to take place in circumstances where a woman’s life is not at risk.