Pro-life campaigners ‘not surprised’ at poll results

THE pro-life campaign yesterday said it was “not surprised” by the Irish Examiner/Lansdowne opinion poll, which showed a majority of under 35s are in favour of legalising abortion.

Dr Ruth Cullen, on behalf of the anti-abortion campaigners, said the overall findings of the poll still showed an 11-point advantage for the pro-life position. She said that this finding was consistent with other polls taken over the past decade.

“It has also been a consistent feature of similar polls to show a higher percentage of younger people in favour of abortion over other categories.”

But she argued that it did not follow, as some commentators have suggested, that this will inevitably lead to a majority demand for abortion legislation in the years ahead.

“While pro-life advocates have no room for complacency, there are strong indicators that as people get older and start families of their own, they increasingly identify with the pro-life position,” she said.

“Polls taken 10 years ago would have shown similar numbers of young people in favour of abortion but, as the latest poll reveals, there is evidence they are now starting to move in a pro-life direction.”

Responding to the poll on Wednesday, Labour Party health spokesperson Liz McManus said she expected to see abortion legalised in limited circumstances with the next 10 years. However, she said that this would not amount to abortion on demand.

But yesterday, Dr Cullen argued that wherever abortion is legal, even when laws were initially restrictive, it has led to abortion on demand.

“The challenge we face as a society is to put resources in place to create a more supportive environment for expectant mothers and their unborn children (and) not deny the existence of human life at its most fragile beginnings,” she said.

Legal uncertainty has surrounded the constitutional protection of the unborn since the X case in 1992.