Now abortion is devolved, let’s hear what Scots want

Madeleine Kearns looks at the results of a major survey

Arecent Comres survey, from May 2017, showed that an overwhelming majority of British citizens favour a reduction of the abortion limit.

Almost two-thirds of those polled say abortion should be reduced from 24 to 20 weeks, and one fifth believe it should be lowered to 12 weeks. Comres also found that only one per cent of those surveyed support the total decriminalisation of abortion.

The study surveyed more than 2,000 Britons and was the most extensive polling on abortion in England, Scotland and Wales in the last dec- ade. In response to certain questions, the percentage of Scots who favoured changes in the law was higher than in England and Wales.

For example, participants were asked whether the government should make participation in the abortion procedure mandatory for doctors. An overwhelming majority opposed this. However, whereas in England 55 per cent disagreed that doctors should be forced to act against their conscience, in Scotland it was higher at 61 per cent.

This question has significance, not only for doctors, but also for the entire medical profession. in 2014, the UK Supreme Court ruled against two Scottish midwives by deciding that they did not have the right to refuse to supervise abortions. The legal decision has since been described by the Royal College of Midwives and the British Pregnancy Advisory Service as a ‘landmark case.’

Another question asked whether the time limit for aborting a prenatal child with a disability should be equal to the 24 weeks limit in place for prenatal children without disability. Currently it is possible in the UK to abort a disabled prenatal child up to birth and the law, as it stands, has been criticised by disability campaigners as discriminatory.

While in England, 42 per cent came out in support of changing the law to introduce an equal time limit, in Scotland there was a majority of 53 per cent. This is very interesting, because in May 2016, Lord Shinkwin, who is disabled himself, proposed a Bill in Westminster that sought to abolish abortion on the grounds of disability, which was defeated in March of this year.

The survey also asked whether participants agreed that, ‘aborting