Less than half of Brits support abortion above 20 wks

Only forty per cent of British adults support abortion for any woman at 20 weeks — a month below the current cut-off — a survey has revealed.

An Ipsos study on global attitudes to abortion found that just under two-thirds agreed that abortion should be legal in the first 14 weeks of a pregnancy. This fell to four-in-ten for 20 weeks gestation.

In Great Britain, it is legal to have an abortion for most reasons up to 24 weeks, or up to birth when the unborn child is thought to have a disability.

Legal limit

Ipsos asked around one thousand 16 to 74-year-old residents in Britain if they thought abortion should be legal “For any woman in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy”.

Among all British adults surveyed, only 40 per cent answered “Yes”.

The percentage of people in favour of legal abortion up to 14 weeks was 65 per cent, with 74 per cent supporting abortion in the first six weeks of pregnancy.

The survey is consistent with a ComRes poll from 2017 which found that just one per cent of women thought the time limit on abortion should be raised from 24 weeks to birth, while around 70 per cent believed the limit should be lowered.

Other countries

Compared to responses from other countries, however, Great Britain registered the second highest level of support for abortion at 20 weeks — behind that of Sweden.

Of the 27 countries surveyed, Peru showed the least support for legal abortion for any woman in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy, with fewer than one-in-ten surveyed backing the longer time limit.