OVER HALF OF medical students in Ireland believe abortion should be legally available upon request.
Seven per cent of the 169 respondents to the University of Limerick study believe abortion should not be legally available, 35 per cent said it should be allowed in limited circumstances only, while the majority, 55 per cent, think abortion should be legally available upon request.
Almost all those surveyed (95.2 per cent) believed that education on abortion should be offered within medical school curricula.
However, 29 per cent said they would decline to terminate pregnancies even if legally permitted, 59 per cent indicated that they might perform legal abortions once qualified, while 25 per cent would do so under limited circumstances only.
Over 72 per cent of the respondents were pro-choice, while those over 30 years of age were found to be less likely to hold this view.
The first report of its kind in Ireland by the University of Limerick was carried out to find what medical students’ attitudes are towards abortion in Ireland. Those questione
In 2011, around 4,000 women traveled from Ireland to the UK for an abortion.
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