Most want abortion to be decriminalised: Survey

MORE than 80 per cent of Queenslanders back decriminalisation of abortion, a survey has found.

A survey of 1201 adults found 82 per cent agreed abortion should be legal.

• Drag abortion laws out of 19th century: Opinion

MORE than 80 per cent of Queenslanders back decriminalisation of abortion.

A survey of 1201 adults by Fair Agenda found 82 per cent agreed it should be legal for a woman, in consultation with a medical professional, to terminate her pregnancy.

It also found 60 per cent of respondents would be less likely to support an MP who voted to keep abortion as a crime.

Fair Agenda executive director Renee Carr said Queensland’s laws were a century out of date.

“To continue to deny women the legal right to make decisions about their own fertility and health is totally unacceptable,” she said.

Public Health Association chief executive Michael Moore said it would be a “shocking failure” for MPs not to decriminalise abortion.

“For the parliament to choose to continue criminalising women and their doctors in this way would be a shocking failure,” he said.

Independent Cairns MP Rob Pyne’s two abortion Bills are set to be debated next week.

Labor has committed to give its MPs a conscience vote.

The Opposition has allowed its MPs a conscience vote on Mr Pyne’s first Bill, which removes abortion from the criminal code, but has not yet committed to do so for the second Bill, which outlines gestation periods and who could legally perform an abortion.