Urban Indians hold conservative views on Abortion

September 28th is the World Safe Abortion Day. According to a new global survey by Ipsos, we find Indians conservative in their views about Abortion. Almost 4 in 10 (39%) believe a woman should be permitted to have an abortion whenever she needs one, while a quarter (25%) of respondents feel abortion should be permitted only in certain circumstances.

Elaborating on the findings, Parijat Chakraborty, Country Service Line Leader, Ipsos Public Affairs said, “India decriminalized abortion in 1971. And in 2021, there was a further amendment to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy, making safe abortion accessible to all women (in case contraceptives fail) and to women with gestation period of fetus up to 20 weeks. India has been faced with another issue, in the quest for a male child, women have been compelled to terminate their pregnancy due to pressure from family, the new law gives the right to the married woman to decide whether she wants an abortion or not.”         

Global findings

On average, seven in ten adults across 27 countries recently surveyed by Ipsos say abortion should be permitted — 46% whenever a woman decides she wants one and 24% in certain circumstances, such as in case of rape. Only one in six say abortion should not be permitted — 5% under no circumstances whatsoever and 12% except if a woman’s life is in danger.

The survey of 20,003 adults under the age of 75 was conducted on Ipsos’ Global Advisor online platform between June 25 and July 9, 2021. Since 2014, when Ipsos started measuring opinion about the legal status of abortion across the world annually, support for it has been steady in aggregate: it averages 71% across 27 countries today, compared to 72% across 22 countries seven years ago. Views on abortion continue to vary widely across countries and regions. However, this year’s survey highlights significant gains in some countries in the level of support for legalizing abortion, balanced by a softening in other countries.