more push-polling on abortion attitudes

I've criticised previous polls on abortion week limits as an exercise in public opinion that have absolutely nothing to with improvements in medical science.

The Christian Institute's recent poll is a perfect example, avoiding any mention of the rationale for the current 24 week limit and opting for a comparison to other countries. Their question read:

In Great Britain the upper limit for abortion is 24 weeks. By comparison in most other EU countries the limit is 12 weeks or lower. In light of this difference what do you think the limit should be in Brtiain?

Quite simply, this is a push-poll where the question is intended to create the impression that the UK is wildly out of step with our nearest cultural neighbours. As you have probably come to expect, the attempt to suggest that Britain is the "most liberal" in Europe is achieved by ignoring the true complexity of the situation.

It depends on managing to avoid mentioning that many European countries women have a genuine system of abortion on request provided they exercise that right within the first 12 weeks after conception. Do not collect two doctor's signatures, go straight to the clinic - a far more liberal, direct and honest system than in the UK.

Beyond that point, countries across Europe have legislation that allows abortion after week 12 for a variety of reasons. Here's heavily Catholic Spain:

GROUNDS/GESTATIONAL LIMITS

Up to 12 weeks - Rape

Up to 22 weeks - If the fetus, if carried to term, will suffer from severe physical or mental defects

No limit - If the abortion is necessary to avert a serious risk to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman

(source)

And here's Germany:

Up to 12 weeks - If the woman declares to be in a state of distress (in practice: on request after counselling)

- Rape or other sexual crime

Up to 22 weeks from conception - To avert the danger of a grave impairment of the physical or emotional state of health of the pregnant woman (and the danger cannot be averted in another way which is reasonable for her)

- Note: the mental health risks for the woman include the ones caused by fetal malformation, and general health risks caused by adverse socio-economic conditions.

So that's abortion permissable on the grounds of poverty.

As Unity says - having already covered this subject in detail in a related "she who cannot be trusted" post - "this 12 weeks in Europe thing is much more complicated than it looks."

In other words, the attempt to suggest that Britain is out of line with the rest of Europe conceals a raft of different legislation, many parts of which are far more liberal. In shorter words, the poll is not honest.

(For extra credit, note the number of other ways in which Britain is thought to be more liberal than the rest of Europe - and how this is seen as a good thing. The fact that different countries have different laws is not a compelling argument that we should copy them.)