New Brunswick Right to Life
P.O. Box 113, Station A, Fredericton, NB E3B 4Y2
Tel. (506) 459-8990 or Toll-free 1-888-796-9600. Fax (506) 454-8093.
Email nbrl@nb.sympatico.ca. Office: 562 Brunswick Street, Fredericton. Website www.nbrighttolife.ca
Life for All. Love for All.
NEWS RELEASE Jan. 31, 2007
For Immediate Release
A new poll touted by abortion rights activists came under sharp criticism today from the New Brunswick Right to Life Association. The Omnifacts Bristol Research survey (reported today by CBC) suggests most New Brunswickers favor "the right to choose" and more access to abortion.
Right to Life executive director Peter Ryan says the poll is not a reliable guage of public opinion, due to inbuilt bias stemming from faulty wording. "When you use loaded language like 'the right to choose', the results will be skewed in a pro-abortion direction. It would be the same as asking people whether a pregnant woman should be allowed to kill her child before birth. The question is leading, the results are predictable and invalid."
A careful analysis of several polls on abortions over the last few years reveals that most Canadians, and even more so most Atlantic residents, are against most abortions.
For instance, an Environics Poll released Nov. 9, 2006 poll (see attachments) showed that a significant majority of Canadians (66%) either completely opposed publicly funded abortion (15%) or supported it "only in medical emergencies, such as a threat to the mother's life or in cases of rape or incest." 31% said they completely tax funded abortion in all cases, i.e. for abortion on demand. In the Atlantic region, however, this latter figure dropped to 21%. These results were consistent with four previous Environics polls done annually from 2002 on.
The current New Brunswick policy, whereby Medicare pays only for abortion certified as medically necessary by two physicians, and not for abortions performed on demand in private clinics, is in line with public opinion. According to a news report, abortion rights activists plan to cite the Omnifacts poll when they meet this week with Health Minister Mike Murphy.
"We hope the minister is not misled," said Right to Life's Peter Ryan. "New Brunswickers are not keen on facilitating abortion."
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Contact: Peter Ryan (506) 459-8990 or 1-888-796-9600
NOTE: A full analysis of the Omninfacts poll is found below.
ANALYSIS OF OMNIFACTS BRISTOL RESEARCH POLL REPORTED BY CBC JAN. 31, 2007
1. Results for the first question on abortion are skewed. The question is a leading one, using the loaded language of "right to choose" which automatically tends to elicit a positive response. It would be as invalid as if the following leading pro-life question were asked: "Do you believe pregnant women should be allowed to kill their child before birth?"
2. Even with the aforementioned leading question and skewed results, the numbers reported show a divided population: 46% say women should never have the right to choose or only under some circumstances. Furthermore, respondents who said they did not know or who refused to answer were excluded from the statistics reported. Therefore the actual proportion who said they "always" favored the "right to choose" is less than the 55% reported, and most likely less than a majority.
3. It is curious how dramatically different these results are from a previous Omifacts poll reported in Acadie-Nouvelle Jan. 16, 2003. That poll showed that "a very large majority of the population of the province is against abortion" (my emphasis). A total of 76% said they were either "against" abortion (15%) or "against, except in certain situations" (61%), while 21% said they were "for" it. Have the views of New Brunswickers changed that much in four years? There is no evidence - other than this questionable new poll - to substantiate it. To the contrary.
4. Our analysis of numerous public opinion polls over the past years shows that most Canadians, and even more so most Atlantic residents, oppose most abortions.
5. A more valid reflection of public opinion than the new Omnifacts survey was contained in the Environics Poll released Nov. 9, 2006. This poll showed that a significant majority of Canadians (66%) either completely opposed publicly funded abortion (15%) or supported it "only in medical emergencies, such as a threat to the mother's life or in cases of rape or incest." 31% said they completely tax funded abortion in all cases, i.e. for abortion on demand. In the Atlantic region, however, this latter figure dropped to 22%. These results were consistent with four previous Environics polls done annually from 2002 on. In the five years from 2002-2006 , an average of 68% of Canadians were either completely opposed to publicly funded abortion or opposed except for medical emergencies.
6. The current New Brunswick policy, whereby Medicare pays only for abortion certified as medically necessary by two physicians, and not for abortions performed on demand in private clinics, is in line with public opinion.
7. Results for all four of the Omnifacts questions on abortion are skewed by the initial question's "right to choose" buzz words. Results for the third question, suggesting most NB residents favor access to abortions in "clinics" are meaningless. That access exists now. Further, when people answer "yes" to abortions at clinics, do they mean for medical emergencies or for abortion on demand? The results provide no answer, thus no proof the public supports access to abortion on demand as carried at at clinics.
8. Results for the fourth question, about the government paying for abortions, show a very divided population. Most people either oppose paying for abortion or only want it paid for under some circumstances. Furthermore, these figures do not even encompass those respondents against abortion, so the overall public opposition to tax-funded abortion is even higher than reported.