Poll finds majority of Queensland voters oppose key plank of Labor abortion reform

THE pro-life lobby has released a new opinion poll as it steps up its fight against the Palaszczuk Government’s abortion reforms.

THE pro-life lobby is stepping up its fight against the Palaszczuk Government’s abortion reforms, releasing a new opinion poll that found a majority of Queenslanders want to keep existing laws or make them tougher.

The YouGov Galaxy poll — commissioned by Cherish Life Queensland and the Australian Family Association — found a majority of Queensland voters (52 per cent) oppose the key plank of Labor’s Termination of Pregnancy Bill to legalise abortion on request for any reason until 22 weeks of pregnancy.

Far more women (57 per cent) were opposed to this provision than men (48 per cent), the poll found.

Less than a third of voters polled (29 per cent) said they were in favour of abortion on request. And a majority (62 per cent) oppose the provision of the Bill that would legalise abortion past 22 weeks for “social circumstances”.

The lobby says the findings challenge Deputy Premier Jackie Trad’s assertions that Labor’s abortion Bill enjoys wide public support.

Deputy Premier Jackie Trad says Labor’s reform plans enjoy popular community support. file picture

The executive director of Cherish Life, Teeshan Johnson, called on Labor MPs to “follow their conscience” and reject “this barbaric Bill”.

“Jackie Trad, in her personal crusade to legalise abortion, is going completely against the beliefs of a majority of Queenslanders, particularly women,’’ she said.

“The Termination of Pregnancy Bill 2018 would legalise abortion to the day of birth under very loose criteria, including ‘social circumstances’.

“Yet only 3 per cent of Queensland women agree with late-term abortion.”

At least 14,000 abortions are conducted in Queensland annually. A question in the poll revealed that 38 per cent of voters believe the current law is “about right as it is”, and 18 per cent think it is not restrictive enough.

This means 56 per cent of Queensland voters either believe the law should stay the same or be stricter. Only 26 per cent think it should be less restrictive.

The poll also revealed that a sizeable majority (62 per cent) believe an unborn child at 23 weeks of pregnancy is a person with human rights.

Only 8 per cent supported sex-selection abortions.

Ms Johnson said the fact that only 6 per cent of Queenslanders support late-term abortion and just 8 per cent support sex-selective abortion was significant.

“The Bill will legalise both practices, which shows how out of touch the Government is in trying to impose this abhorrent and unnecessary legislation on Queensland,” she said.