[Public Opinion Brief 33-1] Growing Public Opinion to Recognize Abortion Rights

[Public Opinion Brief 33] To Recognize or Not Recognize Abortion Rights?

[1] Growing Global Public Opinion to Recognize Abortion Rights

[2] Koreans' Perceptions of Abortion by Social Class

Growing Global Public Opinion to Recognize Abortion Rights

In 17 out of 18 countries, judicial punishment is a minority opinion

According to the results of an international public opinion survey conducted by World Public Opinion (WPO), EAI, and The Kyunghyang Shinmun among 18,465 people in 18 countries, 52% of people worldwide perceive abortion as an issue that should be left to individual judgment rather than government intervention to reduce it.

The survey results showed that in 17 out of 18 countries, excluding Indonesia, a majority in 11 countries believed that abortion should be left to individual judgment rather than government intervention. In particular, in countries where abortion is legally permitted, such as France (95%), the United Kingdom (81%), the United States (69%), Ukraine (70%), Russia (62%), and China (67%), the opinion that abortion should be left to individual judgment was high.

In the remaining 7 countries (Egypt, Palestine, India, Iran, Thailand, Nigeria, Indonesia), more people believed that the government should intervene rather than individual judgment. These countries are generally strongly influenced by Islam or generally prohibit abortion by law.

Even in the 8 countries where abortion is subject to judicial processing (Nigeria, Mexico, Iran, Egypt, Palestine, Poland, South Korea), public opinion is predominantly against government intervention in abortion issues, unlike the judicial system that punishes abortion, in Poland (66%), Mexico (70%), and South Korea (62%).

While most religions worldwide view abortion unfavorably, Christians tended to view abortion more as a matter of individual choice. A majority of Christians (65%) surveyed believed that abortion should be a matter of individual choice rather than government intervention, while a majority of Muslims (59%) believed that the government should intervene to reduce abortions.

The higher the level of education and income, the stronger the tendency to perceive abortion as an individual choice and the more pronounced the opposition to government intervention. The proportion of respondents who opposed government intervention in abortion issues was 46% among those with lower education levels (below high school), but reached 60% among those with higher education (college graduates or above). However, no significant difference in perception was found between men and women. Notably, in the 20s, the stance that the government should intervene to reduce abortions was 48%, exceeding the overall average of 41%.

Meanwhile, among those who believe the government should intervene, there was considerable reluctance to use coercive measures such as judicial punishment. There was a greater preference for guidance programs, such as education and counseling, to encourage individuals not to choose abortion. Among respondents who believed the government should intervene to reduce abortions, 56.1% preferred guidance measures, while 43.9% favored judicial punishment.

[Figure 1] Global Perceptions of Abortion Issues