Poll reveals most Spaniards oppose new abortion law

Madrid, Spain, Oct 24, 2009 / 11:27 am

A poll conducted by the NC Report for the newspaper “La Razon,” has revealed that 58.4 percent of Spaniards are against permitting 16 year olds to abort without the consent of their parents, and 46 percent oppose reforming the current law.

The poll also showed that 30 percent oppose abortion “in all cases,” and another 30 percent support the procedure only “in justified cases.” Only 35.5 percent support abortion for any reason.

A majority of respondents also opposed the distribution of the morning-after pill without a prescription.

On the other hand, the poll revealed that for 41.1 percent of Spaniards, the main reason for obtaining an abortion is economic or job-related. Nearly 19 percent said abortions were for social, family or cultural reasons. Eighteen percent attributed abortions to the failure of contraceptives, and only 7.5 percent believe the majority of abortions are performed for medical reasons.

“La Razon” reported that the poll results “contradict the claims of abortion clinics. According to official statistics of the Ministry of Health and Social Policy, around 99 percent of voluntary pregnancy terminations recorded in Spain occur for the life or health of the mother. In addition, on this point the youngest respondents (those aged 18-44) were the ones who attributed pregnancy termination to economic problems.”

Likewise, the poll revealed that 55.6 percent of Spaniards believe that a policy supporting childbirth would reduce the number of abortions in the country. For one-third of the respondents, abortion is failure of policies to prevent unwanted pregnancies.