Pro Choice Catholics

Something to upset the pope :


A large minority of Catholics back a woman's right to have an abortion and are critical of their bishops for paying "too much attention" to the issue, a survey has suggested

A poll of adults in the UK has shown 43% of Catholics agreed that it should be legal for a woman to have an abortion when she has an unwanted pregnancy with only 27% disagreeing.

A further 20% said they neither disagreed or agreed.

The survey also found that 42% of Catholics agreed with the view that the Catholic bishops concentrated too much of their attention on abortion when there were other issues that also required their attention.

The YouGov poll of 1,983 adults in the UK was conducted online earlier this month for the US-based group Catholics for Choice, which is to brief MPs on its findings.

The poll found the highest level of support for abortion among the general population with 63% of all respondents agreeing it should be legal for a woman to have an abortion when she has an unwanted pregnancy.

This figure fell to 58% of people who identified themselves as Protestant.

The survey findings come as the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill was debated in the House of Lords earlier this week. Both pro-Life and pro-choice groups are expected to attempt to use the Bill to change the law on abortion.