Mexico Poll Shows Majority of Country’s Residents Oppose Abortion 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 23, 2007
Mexico City, Mexico (LifeNews.com) — As Mexicans begin to debate the issue of abortion and watch as pro-abortion lawmakers try to legalize the practice there, the results of a January poll are just now being released. They show that a majority of Mexicans oppose abortion and are split on whether to legalize the practice.
The polling firm Consulta Mitofsky conducted a poll on abortion in January but only released the results yesterday.
While a strong majority of people favored using condoms or birth control to prevent pregnancies, only 32.1 percent of those polled said they agreed with abortion.
Breaking the results down by political party, only 30 percent of people who side with the conservative National Action Party (PAN) agree with abortion while just 28.7 percent of those who identify themselves as members of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) back abortion.
The numbers are important because the PRD party is sponsoring the legislation in both the Mexico Congress and the Mexico City legislature to try to legalize abortion.
The Mexico City bill is seen as more likely to pass and PAN President Felipe Calderon is expected to veto the congressional measure.
The poll also found that 49 percent of Mexicans oppose legalizing abortion there with a slightly lower percentage supporting legalizing at least some abortions.
A report on the poll LifeNews.com obtained did not say whether the polling question concerned legalizing all abortions, as the bills would do, or only those in rare cases such as rape or incest.
Looking at the results along party lines, 46 percent of PAN supporters favor allowing more abortions, compared with 46.9 percent among backers of the centrist PRI and 43.4 percent of the followers of the PRD.
Calderon on Tuesday reiterated his opposition to abortion, according to an AP report.
“I have a personal conviction, and I am in defense of life,” he told a news conference. “I have a plain respect for dignity and human life and within this I believe the existing legislation is adequate.”
The bill also would mandate that government-financed health clinics do abortions if low-income women ask for them.
Mexico City currently allows abortions in cases of rape or incest and when the pregnancy threatens the life of the mother while the rest of the nation only allows abortions in cases of sexual abuse.
Related web sites:
Comite Nacional Pro Vida – https://www.comiteprovida.org
