Knowledge of current abortion law and views on abortion law reform: a community survey of NSW residents

Abstract

Abortion law in NSW is out of step with contemporary community views. Residents are largely unaware that it remains a criminal offence and, when informed, support decriminalisation. There is strong support for legal changes to protect women from harassment and to provide protester exclusion zones around abortion clinics. Implications for public health: Abortion law reform would reduce current inequities of access, be democratic and support women's autonomy and reproductive rights.

Majority support for access to abortion care including later abortion in South Australia

“…More than 64% of respondents endorsed that abortion care should be readily available, and an additional 24.6% felt that abortion should be available in certain circumstances (Table 1). Participants living in regional areas were slightly less likely to consider that abortion should be readily available than those living in metropolitan areas (58.4% vs 67.6%, χ 2 =7.82, p =0.006), and younger people were more likely than older people to report that abortion should not be allowed in any circumstances (6.3% vs 3.2%, χ 2 =5.65, p =0.02). There were no differences by gender.…”

“…after 20 weeks gestation; n=912) are displayed in Table 2. A majority (63.1%) of participants considered that later abortion should be available in any circumstance deemed necessary by the woman and her healthcare team, although younger people were less likely to endorse this response than older people (57.3% vs 67.3%, χ 2 =9.50, p =0.002). Very few participants (6.8%) felt that later abortion should be completely banned; those who did (n=67) were far less likely than other respondents (n=945) to support decriminalisation (33.3% vs 83.1%, χ 2 =127.7, p <0.001) or to support the establishment of safe access zones (61.9% vs 81.9%, χ 2 =80.7, p <0.001).…”

“…Second, surveys about access to later abortion typically ask people to give their opinion about access to care in various circumstances affecting the woman or the pregnancy 1,2 . Our survey additionally asked respondents to consider whether normal processes of clinical consultation that generally apply to healthcare provision are appropriate for abortion care.…”

“…Most items in the survey were based on those in a previous survey of knowledge and attitudes towards abortion conducted in 2015 in New South Wales 2 and in the Australian Election Study since 1979 3 (Supplementary Table 1). Participants were asked to report whether they were aware that abortion remained in criminal law in South Australia.…”

“…Majority support for decriminalisation of abortion among the Australian public has been reported for several decades 1–3 . For example, in 2015, more than 72% of 1,015 residents of New South Wales supported the decriminalisation of abortion while 58% endorsed that women should be able to obtain an abortion readily when they wanted one 2 . Recent reforms in Queensland 4 and New South Wales 5 leave only South Australia with abortion care regulated under criminal law.…”