Social views on abortion in Australia can feel a little generalised, especially around election time. But a new study conducted by Redbridge on behalf of The Australian Institute is helping us get a better understanding of Australians’ attitudes towards abortion access, and the results may surprise you.
How many Australians support abortion?
The Support for Abortion Access study reveals that 3 in 5 Australians support access to abortion. That’s 62% of the 2,010 Australians surveyed in the study.
A further 25% said they support abortion in limited circumstances (such as if the pregnant person is in medical danger or the fetus has a serious disability), and 8% said they do not support it at all.
Social views on abortion in rural Australia
The most surprising data to arise may be that the highest support for abortion access came from those living rurally. 63% of respondents living in rural areas confirmed their support for abortion services, compared to 57% in outer metro areas and 63% in inner metro areas.
It’s arguable this is because rural Australians feel impacts of reduced access to medical services more keenly than those living in cities and regional centers.
What are the abortion attitudes of Australia’s political parties?
Despite Pauline Hanson’s firm anti-choice stance, 50% of One Nation voters in the study said they support access to abortion, with a further 34% saying they’d support abortion in limited circumstances. This means less than 1 in 10 One Nation voters are wholeheartedly against abortion.
The Greens are by far the strongest supporters in the study, with 82% of Greens voters responding ‘Yes’ to ‘Do you support access to abortion?’.
Does labor support abortion?
68% of labor party voters indicated their support for abortion services in Australia. 20% said they’d support abortion in limited circumstances, and 6% were against.
Do liberals support abortion?
58% of coalition voters are in favor of abortion, with 29% supportive in limited circumstances, and 8% against.
Which religious groups in Australia support access to abortion?
Widespread assumptions that anyone practicing religion is against abortion are untrue. The Redbridge study indicates there are many Australians across a variety of religious beliefs who are also supportive of access to abortion care.
Even though the highest support for abortion came from Australians who said they are not religious, over half of the catholics and protestants surveyed were also fully supportive. Only limited numbers from these religious groups indicated they were firmly against abortion, with more erring towards supporting abortion in limited circumstances.
Do catholics support abortion?
While the catholic church is renowned for its opposition of abortion, 57% of Australians in this study who identified as catholic indicated that they fully supported access to abortion.
It can be easy to make assumptions about social views on abortion amongst Australia’s various subcultures and groups. Media outlets, political parties and religious institutions may dictate moral stances that don’t always align with the individual opinions of their readers, voters and followers. The Support for Abortion Access study is evidence of this, showing that the majority of Australians do support access to abortion services.
If you want to find out more about Australians’ views on abortion, including the division of support amongst different genders and education levels, read the full study.
