News release dated 19th October 2006
Offaly Pro-Life takes issues with CPA survey on abortion
Offaly Pro-Life has disputed the findings of the latest Crisis Pregnancy Agency (CPA) telephone survey on abortion which claims that some 64% of the public believe abortion is acceptable in some circumstances. Responding to the survey, Dr. J.B. Kelly, medical adviser to Offaly Pro-Life Campaign said:
Given the way the questions were framed the results are not at all surprising. The question dealing with abortion, for example, makes no distinction between ethical interventions in pregnancy to save the life of the mother and induced abortion where the life of the unborn child is directly targeted. By ignoring such crucial distinctions the survey is effectively meaningless.
Those advocating abortion legislation seem intent on blurring important ethical distinctions. Offaly Pro-Life maintains there is a fundamental difference between early delivery to protect the life of the mother (though the baby may not survive) and abortion carried out with the intention of targeting the life of the baby. Polls which take account of these distinctions consistently show pro-life majorities.*
It is not the first time the CPA commissioned skewed surveys on abortion. There is unease within pro-life circles including Offaly Pro-Life that the agency is spending too much time producing ideologically motivated surveys instead of introducing targeted policies to help reduce our abortion rate.
