Legal abortion backed by majority in US, UK and India, only 8% support it in Nigeria: Pew Center

Jun 21, 2023 - 17:30

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Legal abortion backed by majority in US, UK and India, only 8% support it in Nigeria: Pew Center

Support for legal abortion is widespread in many countries, especially in Europe, a survey by US-based Pew Research Center has found.

Majority of the people surveyed in 24 nations including US, Canada, UK and India supported legal abortion in most cases.

An average of 71% of adults across the twenty four countries backed legal termination of pregnancy while 27% said it should be illegal.

In Sweden, 95% of those surveyed said abortion should be legal in all cases, followed by France where 87% backed legal termination of pregnancy.

62% of the adults backed legal termination of pregnancy in US, where the Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to abortion last year in a controversial decision.

The survey found that the support for legal abortion in US has not changed despite the top court’s move to overturn the 1973 Roe Vs Wade verdict that declared a state law banning abortion “unconstitutional.”

In India where abortion was legalised with the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971, 59% of the adults backed legal abortion.

Support for legal abortion across European countries is strong with majority of surveyors backing it.

However, the number was comparatively lower in Poland where 56% of the population backed legal abortion. The average in Europe is 75%.

Only 8% of the adults backing it, Nigeria had the least support for legal abortion followed by Kenya.