Wrong but the Right Thing to Do: Public Opinion and Abortion

Abstract

British public opinion is ambivalent about abortion. The procedure is regarded by most as a ‘necessary evil’, a sad but inevitable fact of modern living. Whilst there is a salacious interest in tabloid newspaper coverage of issues relating to unplanned pregnancy, there is little public demand for abortion to be placed at the centre of political debate. When a coalition of anti-abortion activists ran as candidates in the 1997 General Election as the Pro-Life Alliance, the highest polling candidate attracted just 2.4 per cent of the vote. In many constituencies they attracted fewer votes than the joke candidates fielded by the Monster Raving Loony Party.