(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Two-in-five adults in Canada think the national health care system should only fund abortions in the case of medical emergencies, according to a poll by Angus Reid Public Opinion. 39 per cent of respondents share this view.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Two-in-five adults in Canada think the national health care system should only fund abortions in the case of medical emergencies, according to a poll by Angus Reid Public Opinion. 39 per cent of respondents share this view.
Conversely, 44 per cent of respondents say abortions should continue to be funded by the universal health care system whenever they are requested.
In Canada, the universality criterion establishes that all residents of a province or territory must be entitled to the insured, public-run health services provided by their provincial or territorial health care insurance plan on uniform terms and conditions.
In 1967, Canadian justice minister Pierre Trudeau presented a bill to partially liberalize abortion. On the same bill, Trudeau urged for the legalization of homosexuality and contraception, saying, "The state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation." The bill was signed into law in 1969, when Trudeau was prime minister.
In January 1988, Canada’s Supreme Court ruled—on an appeal filed by pro-abortion advocate Henry Morgentaler—that Canada’s abortion law was unconstitutional. Abortion is now legal in Canada with no limitation on when to perform it.
Earlier this year, Paul Szabo, a lawmaker with the federal opposition Liberal Party, said that a group of members of Parliament from his party and the governing Conservatives is planning to re-open the abortion debate in Canada, declaring, "Is [a vote] inevitable? I would say yes. (…) We will be back to reconsidering the question in the House [of Commons]. We’re taking incremental steps, small steps. It’s just a question of knowing when it’s the right time."
Polling Data
In Canada, abortions are provided on request to Canadian citizens and permanent residents, and are funded by the health care system. Which of these statements comes closer to your own point of view?
|
|
Jul. 2010
|
Jan. 2010
|
Jul. 2009
|
|
The health care system should fund abortions whenever they are requested
|
44%
|
43%
|
43%
|
|
The health care system should only fund abortions in the event of medical emergencies
|
39%
|
41%
|
44%
|
|
The health care system should not fund abortions at all
|
10%
|
7%
|
4%
|
|
Not sure
|
7%
|
9%
|
8%
|
Source: Angus Reid Public Opinion
Methodology: Online interviews with 1,022 Canadian adults, conducted on Jul. 7 and Jul. 8, 2010. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.
