(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - A vast majority of people in the Czech Republic believe pregnancy termination should be legal, according to a poll by CVVM. 72 per cent of respondents think abortion should be allowed at the request of the woman.

Abortion is legal in the Czech Republic within the first 12 weeks of gestation. The procedure can also be performed for medical reasons in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, or at any time during gestation and if the fetus has defects. Only one per cent of all respondents consider abortion should be legally banned.

Czechoslovakia was separated into two countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, in the "velvet divorce" of 1993, a reference to the "velvet revolution" in 1989 when mass peaceful demonstrations led to the end of communist rule in the country.

The law allowing for abortion was introduced with some restrictions in 1975, when the Czech Republic was still part of Czechoslovakia. Since 1992, abortions for non-medical reasons are not covered by the state-administered health care system, but rates for this procedure are generally low.

In 1990, more than 100,000 abortions were performed in the Czech Republic, but the number of annual procedures declined to less than 35,000 in 2004.

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