Malta Residents Strongly Pro-Life on Abortion, New Telephone Survey Finds
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
November 30, 2008
Valletta, Malta (LifeNews.com) — A new telephone survey finds the residents of the island nation of Malta are strongly pro-life when it comes to the issue of abortion. The poll could aid efforts by the pro-life group Gift of Life, which is working to enshrine legal protection for unborn children in Malta’s constitution.
The Informa polling firm conducted the survey with 500 respondents by phone and it found 84.5 percent of Maltese residents oppose legalizing abortion.
Of the small percentage of island residents who wanted legal abortions, they favored allowing them in only very rare cases.
Some 5.6 percent of Maltese residents wanted legal abortions in cases of rape or incest and another 6.2 percent favored legal abortions when the pregnancy threatens the life of the mother.
In a statement responding to the poll results, Gift of Life officials said they think the few who favored abortions in the rare cases would change their minds if educated.
"We believe that when people understand the facts about these two delicate issues, that many would change their minds even about abortion in these cases," the group said.
The survey also found 82.7 percent agree with the group’s efforts to put legal protections for unborn children in the nation’s Constitution while 9.1 percent disagreed and 8.2 percent were unsure.
According to the survey, 91.5 percent said they disagree with abortion and 88.7 percent know human life begins at conception.
In September, Gift of Life renewed its efforts for the constitutional amendment to take the nation’s laws prohibiting abortion and turn them into a constitutionally-protected right.
The group had suspended its campaign while Maltese residents were caught up in the March elections.
"We believe that it is now time to reopen talks with the Government and the Leader of the Opposition on the way forward towards finally updating the Constitution of Malta, to clearly extend the right to life to the unborn child," the group said.
Related web sites:
Gift of Life petition – https://www.lifemalta.org
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