Abortion Qld: Overwhelming support across the state for legalisation
Queenslanders have overwhelmingly backed abortion in the state, with a vast majority going against the handful of rogue MPs threatening to rip an infant LNP government apart if David Crisafulli becomes Premier.
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Three out of four Queenslanders believe legalising abortion and making it a healthcare issue was the right move – with support strongest in regional Queensland, a new poll has revealed.
A poll commissioned by the Queensland Council of Unions and conducted by Labor-aligned DemosAU revealed voters, regardless of age, region, gender, education level, or income, overwhelming support the decision to legalise abortion.
A whopping 73 per cent of LNP voters polled also indicated they agreed it was right that termination of pregnancy was taken out of criminal law and permitted as a matter of healthcare in 2018.
The Queensland Council of Unions has been spearheading the campaign claiming abortion rights are at risk should the LNP take government.
Opposition Leader David Crisafulli, who has repeatedly asserted the LNP has no plans to amend the laws, has described the QCU push as a “scare campaign”.
DemosAU, run by former Labor staffers Evan Schwarten and George Hasanakos, polled more than 1000 people in the last week of August.
The polling, seen by the Courier-Mail, shows of those polled half were asked about their views on abortion.
Overall 75 per cent of Queenslanders agreed decriminalising abortion was the right move. This included 78 per cent of women and 71 per cent of men.
Support for abortion was strongest among women aged 18 to 24 (85 per cent) and women earning more than $200,000 a year (85 per cent).
Men aged 18 to 24 had the weakest support for abortion — though two thirds of them still believed it was the right move.
Abortion has burst into the election debate amid comments made by LNP MPs including Tony Perrett (Gympie) and Jon Krause (Scenic Rim) have in recent weeks voiced anti-abortion views in candidate forums.
Mr Krause, in a live-streamed candidate forum on September 15 hosted by Harvest Point Church, said he saw “some issues with the current law”.
The Katter’s Australian Party has also vowed to overhaul abortion laws as a matter of priority in the next parliament.
Originally published as Abortion Qld: Overwhelming support across the state for legalisation
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