Media coverage of Millward Brown opinion poll launch

Click on any of the links below to see coverage of last week's launch of the Millward Brown opinion poll on abortion.

• The RTÉ Six One News 
• Irish Independent  
• Irish Examiner  
• Irish Times 
• also in the Irish Times, by Arthur Beesley "Group disputes wide backing for abortion" 
• Belfast Telegraph
• Yahoo News
• BreakingNews.ie 
• LifeNews.com
• National Right To Life News
• RTÉ Radio One Drivetime 
• Limerick Leader
• Carlow Nationalist

Sizeable majority support legal protection of unborn, according to new research

Today, the Pro Life Campaign launched a recently commissioned Millward Brown opinion poll, which was carried out on various pro-life issues including current medical practice on the treatment of women in pregnancy.

Áine Ascough, Wendy Grace, Maria Ó hAodha, and Claire Moore at the launch.

Research was carried out between 16-25 January 2013 on a nationally representative sample of 970 people aged 18+ by face-to-face interviews. The findings show a high level of support for current medical practice in Ireland.

Q1. In current medical practice in Ireland, the doctor treats the expectant mother and her baby as two patients and does his/her best to safeguard both in a crisis situation. Do you consider that this practice should be protected and safeguarded by law or not?

Result: 

66% answered YES 

15% NO 

19% gave no opinion 

Of those who expressed an opinion 81% answered YES.          

                            

Q2. Are you in favour of, or opposed to constitutional protection for the unborn that prohibits abortion but allows the continuation of the existing practice of intervention to save a mother's life in accordance with Irish medical ethics?

Result: 

63% answered YES

19% NO 

18% gave no opinion 

Of those who expressed an opinion: 77% answered YES.

What marks these findings out from other research is the way important ethical distinctions are clarified for the benefit of respondents.

A number of polls published recently citing support for abortion used the word “abortion” in the question without defining just what it meant. These questions could only lead to uninformed answers. Polls using lists of emotive circumstances also tend to distort results.

In the Millward Brown polls published today an attempt was made to differentiate between life-saving medical interventions in pregnancy and induced abortion (where the sole aim is to terminate the pregnancy). It is clear from the results that a sizeable majority supports legal protection for the unborn child, while ensuring that women receive all necessary medical treatments when pregnant.

The findings published today challenge the notion that there is broad middle ground support for abortion in Ireland.

Separate from the survey results, but very relevant to the debate on abortion, Caroline Simons (legal adviser to the Pro Life Campaign) made the following remarks at the press launch today: 

 ·         As the latest World Health Organisation report on Trends in Maternal Mortality shows, out of 171 countries, Ireland is consistently in the top five in safety for women in pregnancy over the past 25 years. This is a remarkable statistic showing Ireland to be a world leader in maternal healthcare and safer for women in pregnancy than places like Britain and the US, where abortion is available on demand.

·         Rather than introducing an abortion regime that blurs crucial ethical distinctions, the Government should set about reassuring the public on Ireland's outstanding record of care in protecting women during pregnancy.

·         The European Court of Human Rights judgment in A, B and C v. Ireland does not oblige the Government to introduce abortion legislation. Instead, Guidelines could be drawn up in consultation with the appropriate bodies of expertise within the medical profession based on best medical practice, addressing the requirement of clarity for women in pregnancy.

·         Any legislation based on the X case would mean that for the first time members of the Oireachtas would be sanctioning the taking of innocent human life. Once that principle is conceded, there is no going back. Not only would legislation based on the X case put the right to life of the unborn at risk, it would also potentially put women's lives at risk based on the independent expert evidence presented to the recent Oireachtas hearings. This evidence highlighted the link between induced abortion and adverse mental health consequences for women. If we are genuinely concerned about women's health, the Government simply cannot ignore this peer-reviewed evidence. 

You can see the full results from Millward Brown by following this link. 

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Cora Sherlock says reporting of latest Irish Times poll "gross distortion" in letter to the paper

Cora Sherlock with Reggie Littlejohn of Women's Rights Without Frontiers and
Joe McCarroll of the Pro Life Campaign at an event in 2012. 

In a letter in today's Irish Times, Cora Sherlock, the Deputy Chairperson of the Pro Life Campaign says that the Irish Times' presentation of the recent poll "was a gross distortion of the true picture". 

Reporting on the poll at the time of its release, Stephen Collins, the Political Editor of the Irish Times, claimed that public support on abortion has increased from 23% in 1997 to 71% today. As Cora points out, in reality the poll in 1977 found that 77% of people supported abortion (given the question made no distinction between abortion and necessary medical treatments during pregnancy). In responding to Cora's letter in today's paper, Stephen Collins dismisses her point, claiming that his comparison still stands. 

Below is Cora's letter in full. 

Sir, – The presentation by The Irish Times of the latest Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI poll on abortion was a gross distortion of the true picture.
In his analysis, Political Editor, Stephen Collins (February 11th) states that public support for Oireachtas legislation on abortion has risen from 23 per cent in 1997 to 71 per cent today.
The 1997 MRBI poll he cites actually found 77 per cent of people supported abortion in a variety of circumstances, depending on how the question was asked. The 23 per cent mentioned by Mr Collins was just one of the findings in a multiple choice question that included other options.
Five years later, in 2002, when the electorate had an actual choice to make in a referendum, 49 per cent voted Yes to row back on the X case ruling. An IMS poll conducted just afterwards found an additional 5 per cent voted No on pro-life grounds.
In other words, despite findings like the one cited by Mr Collins from 1997 and the latest Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI poll, when the people have an actual democratic choice, a clear majority rejects abortion.
Polls showing high levels of support for abortion are nothing new. Whenever the question suppresses the distinction between induced abortion (that targets the life of the baby) and necessary medical treatments to preserve the life of the mother (where every reasonable effort is made to save the life of the baby), the results show high support for abortion.
Such polls, however, significantly under-represent the opposition among the electorate and create an inflated perception of the extent of public support for abortion.
– Yours, etc,
CORA SHERLOCK,
Deputy Chairperson,
Pro Life Campaign,
Lower Baggot Street,
Dublin 2.

Stephen Collins writes: The Irish Times poll in December 1997 found that 23 per cent of people felt the government should legislate for abortion in line with decisions made in the courts. Other findings in the same poll or other polls about the complex issue do not alter that fact. The finding in the latest poll that 71 per cent of people favour legislation is directly comparable.

Sizeable majority supports legal protection of unborn child

Comments by Dr Berry Kiely at the Pro Life Campaign Press Conference, 

Buswells Hotel, Dublin, 12.00pm, 16th February 2011

The latest research on abortion shows a sizeable majority of the public supports legal protection for the unborn child, while at the same time ensuring that women receive all necessary medical interventions in pregnancy.

The Pro Life Campaign commissioned Red C to carry out the survey on a quota controlled sample of 1,025 people aged 18+ between 8^th – 10^th February 2011.

Question 1 reads as follows:

Are you in favour of, or opposed to, constitutional protection for the unborn that prohibits abortion but allows the continuation of the existing practice of intervention to save a mother’s life in accordance with Irish medical ethics?

The finding shows that 68% support constitutional protection for the unborn, 26% oppose it and 5% don’t know or have no opinion. When the don’t knows/no opinions are excluded, 73% of the public support legal protection and 27% are opposed to it.

The Pro Life Campaign believes that the new poll findings confirm the existence of widespread public support for an approach to protecting the unborn child based on the important distinction between ensuring women receive all necessary medical treatments in pregnancy and prohibiting abortion, where the life of the baby is deliberately targeted.

The success of the Irish medical profession in providing the treatments women need in pregnancy without recourse to an abortion regime is confirmed yet again in the latest Report on Maternal Mortality [1] by the World Health Organisation which shows that Ireland, without legalised abortion, is the safest country for pregnant women, out of 172 countries.

Today’s poll finding comes in the wake of the European Court of Human Rights judgment in A, B & C -v- Ireland which led to calls from some politicians and abortion advocacy groups for abortion to be made available in Ireland. The judgement, however, does not require us to legislate for abortion but leaves it up to Ireland to decide its own laws on abortion.

Question 2 reads as follows:

In a recent Supreme Court decision, judges said that human embryos are not protected by the Constitution but deserve respect and their protection is a matter for the Government. Do you think the Government should legislate, or not, to protect human embryos in the area of stem cell research and assisted human reproduction?

The poll findings show that 62% support legal protection of the human embryo, 27% oppose it and 11% don’t know or have no opinion. When the don’t knows/no opinions are excluded, 69% of the public support legal protection and 31% are opposed to it.

This finding is also very reassuring. The fact that it is adult stem cell research, involving no destruction of human embryos, that is yielding all the breakthroughs we read about on an almost daily basis proves it is possible to work towards a win-win solution for both ethics and science in the area of stem cell research.

Before Election Day, the Pro Life Campaign calls on candidates and parties to state where they stand on the right to life of the unborn child and on legal protection for the human embryo. Voters are entitled to know where candidates and parties stand on these vitally important issues. How we treat the most vulnerable defines how committed we are as a society to an authentic vision of human rights.

Ends

[1] Report on Maternal Mortality by the World Health Organisation, UNICEF, UNFPA and the World Bank (2007, 2010)