Abortion survey: push poll or unbiased survey? Part One

I thought I'd wade into the Right-to-Life survey on Australia's attitude to abortion. Since I'm not a statistician, I'm only going to look at the questions. If anyone else would love to tackle the methodological bits of the survey, please do so.

For now I'll just look at the first part of the survey, in the order it is discussed in the media material released.

Q1. Do you believe abortion involves the taking of a human life?

Yes 54 percent, no 34 percent, don't know 12 percent.

This is a nice vague question with which to begin.  Of course abortion involves the taking of human life! I'd have to say yes to this one as well, but as you all know I'm staunchly pro-choice. The real question here is not whether or not the fetus is a human life, it's is having an abortion wrong? Not in my view, no, because I don't believe a fetus has the same rights as an adult woman.

Then we jump to the most controversial issue, late-term abortions:

Q2. Do you believe that by 20 weeks of pregnancy, the earliest point at which survival outside the womb is possible, that an unborn child is a human person with human rights?

57 percent of respondents said yes, 26 percent said no, and 17 percent said don't know.

This is a tricky one. The phrasing "the earliest point at which survival outside the womb is possible" is a bit of a catch for me. Yes, it's basically true that a baby can survive outside the womb after 20 weeks -- but  a fetus isn't fully developed until after 37 weeks.

A quick bit of Internet research reveals that babies born after 28 weeks have a good chance of survival, whilst babies born under 24 weeks "are so susceptible to immediate death, as well as long-term disorders such as blindness, lung disease, developmental disabilities and cerebral palsy, that... the low chances of healthy survival often outweigh any attempt to resuscitate the child and keep it in continued hospital care." (Quote from  here).

More on late-term abortions shortly.

Q4 (sic). Do you support abortion for any reason whatsoever that is abortion on demand?

60 percent said yes, 32 percent said no, 8 percent said don't know.

But wait...

Q5. Do you support abortion for non-medical that is for financial or social reasons?

51 percent said no, 39 percent said yes, 10 percent said don't know.

Bit of a contradiction there. I'd argue that 'financial or social' reasons may seem a bit flippant to many respondents. While, in theory, they may support abortion on demand, many people may tsk tsk the woman who has an abortion because she just can't afford to have a baby or feels like she can't have one now.  Just as many people tsk tsk women who have more than one abortion -- one is an understandable mistake, but two? How could a woman possibly be so stupid as to make the same mistake (whatever it would be) twice? Or more than twice?

I think most people are sympathetic to women who have abortions but, at the same time, they want women to have abortions for the RIGHT reasons -- ie, extreme youth, rape, incest, drug addiction, health issues. (Note, I do not agree with this view.)

Q3. Do you believe that abortion can harm the physical and/or mental health of a woman?

79 percent said yes, 12 percent said no, 9 percent said don't know.

I wonder who the 12 percent are? Abortion can harm a woman, mentally and physically; so can any other medical procedure -- it does worry me that some people think sugical procedures can be done with nary a risk in the world.

Q6. Do you believe that, before having an abortion, a woman should receive free independent counselling and information on the development of her unborn child, the nature of the procedure, the physical and psychological risks of the operation and the alternatives of keeping the child or adoption, so she can make a fully informed decision?

95 percent said yes, 3 percent said no, 2 percent said don't know.

Again, a simple one -- of course women should be fully informed of ALL options. Who are these three percent who think women should be kept in the dark? I'm all for women knowing what their choices are and being well-armed to make them.

Q7. Do you believe there should be a cooling-off period of several days between making an
appointment to have an abortion and the actual operation?

86 percent said yes, 9 percent said no, 5 percent said don't know.

This one disappoints me a little because I believe by the time women get to the point of making an appointment to have an abortion they have usually given the topic very serious thought. Obviously the respondents didn't agree.

The question doesn't indicate if this supposed cooling-off period would be mandatory or optional. Again, it's a really vague question and I'd like to see responses more fleshed out.

Additonally, in practice a cooling-off period might be a little difficult to implement. What if the woman is rapidly approaching the end of say, the second trimester? What if the woman has had to travel from a rural or regional area and can't take the several days to decide? What if the woman just does not want to have a cooling-off period? Isn't it insulting to assume that women need additional prompting to make up their minds?

Q8. Do you believe that parental consent should normally be required for girls under 16 having an abortion?

73 percent said yes, 18 percent said no, 9 percent said don't know.

The key word here is normally. Most of us imagine a happy familial unit where young women can discuss their problems openly and sympathetically with their parents. Unfortunately, I think women in this circumstance would already discuss their pregnancy and options with their parents.

I'm more concerned here about young women who come from abusive homes or where incest may have occured. A small minority, yes, but they are the ones most at risk. So I suppose I'm undecided on this issue as I think minors do require guidance and help with major decisions -- but I also recognise that a 12-year old is in a different situation to say, a girl wbho's 15 and 9 months. Of course,  at the same time I can see many unpleasant complications arising out of mandatory parental notification laws.

Q9. Do you support conscientious objection to allow doctors and nurses to opt out of having to perform abortions against their will?

Yes 73 percent, no 15 percent and don't know 12 percent.

I'd have to agree with the majority of respondents here -- with a major caveat. Abortions are usually performed in specialised medical centres where the staff have chosen to work in this area  -- no-one is forcing staff to work there.

The cavet: unless you're talking about emergency medical procedures such as dilation and extraction in the case of immediate harm to the mother, for instance. There have been some horror stories coming from the US about women who's fetuses died late in pregnancy -- and many of these women could not find doctors willing to perform the necessary operation to remove the dead fetus from their bodies.  If a doctor's  religion causes them to object to operating on a woman to remove a fetus if her life is in danger, even if the fetus is dead or severely malformed, then I do not believe  that person should  have the right to conscientiously object.

Q12. Partial birth abortion is a method of late-term abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy which was recently banned in the United States. It involves the abortionist inducing early labour and aborting the unborn child before full delivery is completed. Do you believe that partial birth abortion should be banned in Australia?

Yes 59 percent, no 20 percent, don't know 21 percent.

The term "partial-birth abortion" is a fairly inexact term for a medical procedure known as a "dilation and extraction", in which labour is indeed induced, and then the fetus' brain is removed while still in the womb. It can also be used to refer to a procedure known as "dilation and evacuation". Both are generally performed late in the pregnancy.

It's a complex issue and one that I don't think is accurately summed up in this question -- perhaps more questioning could have been done. For instance, should a woman be allowed to have a partial-birth abortion if the fetus is severely malformed, for instances?

Also, the way this question is phrased it seems to suggest that women can have "partial-birth abortions" and late-term abortions as they like. The reality is that it women who have late-term abortions usually need to have the abortion approved by a medical ethics board in hospitals who provide the procedure.  And at the moment, in Australia, late-term abortions account for less than two percent of all abortions and most are done for health reasons, so it's not as if there are thousands of late-term abortions going on across the nation.

I'll be the first to admit late-term abortions are a tricky ethical and moral area. However, the vast majority of abortions take place before 13 weeks, suggesting that much of the moral panic about late-term abortions and partial-birth procedures is misplaced and, I suggest, a way of chipping away at abortion rights.

Q10. Do you support Medicare funding for abortions for any reason whatsoever, that is, abortion on demand?

Information read out to respondents- Over the past 35 years, Australian taxpayers have
paid for more than 2 million abortions through Medicare and the public hospital system.
As approximately 98% of abortions are performed for financial or social reasons, it has
been said that abortion is the only elective surgery Medicare covers.

53 percent said yes, 38 percent said no, 9 percent said don't know.

Given the "information" given to respondents, I'm amazed that anyone said yes at all! I'd like to see the actual figures used for these responses -- given that the medicare number for abortion includes dilation and curettage, a common procedure after a miscarriage. I'd also like to know where they found the 98 percent figure.

And as for being the only elective surgey that Medicare covers, I think that's a little pointed, don't you? I also like the bit about 'Australian Taxpayers'. As usual, never mind the fact that it's Australian Taxpayers who are having these abortions as well.

Q11. Do you support Medicare funding for abortions for non-medical, that is, for financial or social reasons?

53 percent said no, 39 percent said yes, and 8 percent said don't know.

Again, this contradiction arises when the phrase  "financial or social reasons" is used. I would have liked to see more in-depth questions about what respondents really think about various situations.

So far it seems the majority of people are pro-abortion on demand, but with some caveats. Despite  rather vague and I think somewhat leading questions, the survey failed to demonstrate that the majority of Australians want to see abortion banned.

Comments

[Zoe]

Thanks, Kate, very interesting.

I had an elective operation to remove a benign tumour on my neck last year, btw. On Medicare.

[cozalcoatl]

Very interesting and thanks for that Kate. Wish i got rung up about topics like this.

Q3. Do you believe that abortion can harm the physical and/or mental health of a woman?

79 percent said yes, 12 percent said no, 9 percent said don't know.

With this question, my first reaction would be to say no. Maybe the people who said no were more saying no to the fact it doesn't always cause any harm at all. Thats the way i would have first interepted it. But thinking how it is phrased, i would really have to say yes. I guess the important word is 'can'.

Q6. Do you believe that, before having an abortion, a woman should receive free independent counselling and information ...

I would probably say no to this, i don't think a woman 'should' have to receive counselling if she chooses not to. Its a good idea to know whats happening but if i was going to have a abortion i'd just want it done and move on without knowing about the development of her unborn child and talking about my feelings.

[cozalcoatl]

(Sorry for double post - net acting up and I've been trying to post this for 24 hours...)

[Kate]

No worries Coz I'll get rid of it for you. Thanks for the comments -- interesting what you said about the word "should", I hadn't thought of it like that. While I think having information on any medical procedure is vital, how paternalistic is it to assume that women can't make up their own minds and SHOULD be barraged with information about adoption? It assumes women haven't even thought of adoption.

[Kate]

Or that women are somehow in the dark about exactly what an abortion entails -- as if we all think it's like having our bikini lines waxed or somesuch.

It really does indicate to me that the language used in this survey is deliberately imprecise and not designed to elicit nuanced views. Of course.

[cozalcoatl]

The whole phrasing and language issue reminds of a episode of the wonderful 'Yes Minister'
Sir Humphrey was talking about a poll on compulsory National Service and how phrasing will get you the results you want.
Went something like this...can't remember what episode though.
"do you want our young people to the well trained, well disciplined and have pride in the country?'
or
'do you want our young people trained to kill and then released onto the streets?'

[suki]

Thanks for posting this Kate.

It seems writer of the questions has been at Pro-Life Mississippi - The US state with the most restrictive abortion laws.

see http://www.prolifemississippi.org/ProLifeLegislation.htm

[harry]

"Q3. Do you believe that abortion can harm the physical and/or mental health of a woman?

79 percent said yes, 12 percent said no, 9 percent said don't know."

Follow up questions:
Do you believe that raising kids can harm the physical and/or mental health of a woman?
Do you believe that LIFE can harm the physical and/or mental health of a woman?
Do you believe adults should be able to make their own decisions?
Do you think that nothing you do is without consequence?
Do consequences sometimes cause physical or emotion pain?

Guess what people: it's called 'life gets harder when you grow up'! So, start growing up.

[Kate]

Indeed harry. "Life is pain," as Westley says in The Princess Bride. "Anyone who says otherwise is trying to sell you something."

[Juan]

buenisimo wachin

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