More than a half of Slovaks (55 percent) view the current abortion law as adequate and see no need to change it, according to results of a sociological survey carried out by the Focus polling agency for the Public Affairs Institute (IVO) between June 14-24 on a sample of 1,009 respondents.
The survey also showed that one in five Slovaks view the law as too tough and think that women's access to abortions should be eased. Conversely, 17 percent of respondents find the law as not tough enough and wish women's access to abortions could be made more difficult. Some 9 percent of respondents didn't know or didn't want to express their opinion on the issue.
Gender, age and educational differences in views on the abortion law are relatively insignificant, stated IVO. Women's freedom in decision-making is emphasised by women only slightly more than by men. The highest number of supporters of the preservation of the status quo is in the age category between 35-54 years. Support for the preservation of the current version of the abortion law slightly increases along with increasing education.
The preservation of the abortion law in its current form is chiefly supported by supporters of the parties For the People (75 percent), Progressive Slovakia (68 percent), Freedom and Solidarity (SaS - 60 percent), OLaNO (59 percent) and We Are Family (57 percent). The demand for toughening of the abortion law has a very low support in all these parties, for example 6 percent in SaS and 13 percent in We Are Family and OLaNO.
Meanwhile, the weakest support for the abortion law in its current form was shown among supporters of the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH-37 percent), far-right Peoples Party Our Slovakia (49 percent) and opposition Smer-SD (50 percent). These three parties have also the highest share of supporters calling for toughening of the abortion law, in particular 47 percent in KDH, 28 percent in Smer-SD and 24 percent in LSNS.
