Majority of voters want abortion law liberalised
irishtimes.com, Mon, Oct 13, 2014, by Stephen Collins
Referendum posters on a pedestrian bridge in Dublin in 2002
A large majority of voters would like to see another referendum on abortion to liberalise the current law, according to the latest Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI poll.
Asked if a referendum should be held on whether or not to permit abortion in cases of rape or where the foetus will not be born alive, 68 per cent said they were in favour, 23 per cent against and 9 per cent had no opinion.
Labour voters were the most strongly in favour, with 72 per cent of them backing the move.
Supporters of all parties were almost equally strong in support of a referendum on the issue, with Fianna Fáil voters being the least enthusiastic about the prospect.
There was a significant variation across the age groups, with the older voters less inclined to support another referendum with the over-65s being least enthusiastic.
Among the over-65s, 51 per cent said they wanted another referendum, but 40 per cent said they did not.
By contrast, 77 per cent of the 18- to 24-year-olds favoured a referendum with just 12 per cent against. Middle class voters were marginally more supportive of another referendum than working class voters, but there was no significant variation.
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