Photo courtesy ACI Africa

A 24-country study by the Pew Research Centre has found that nine out of ten Kenyan adults believe abortion should be illegal in most if not all cases.

In the three African countries surveyed – Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa – the majority of those questioned said abortion should be illegal, 89 percent in Kenya, 92 percent in Nigeria and 57 percent in South Africa.

In Kenya only 11 percent of adults questioned were in favour of legalizing abortion, eight percent thinking so in Nigeria and 41 percent in South Africa.

The survey in Kenya was based on face-to-face meetings with 1,036 adults in 105 households between March 26 and April 19.

Globally, we see widely varying results

The study by the Pew Research Centre found widely varying attitudes across the 24 countries with an average of 71 percent of those surveyed saying abortion should be legal in all or most cases and an average of 27 percent believing it should be illegal.

Attitudes expressed in the survey also seem to vary based on other factors, with women and those with more left-leaning politics, for example, being more likely to support legal abortion.

Alternatively, the study suggests, those for whom religion is important in their lives being far less likely to support legal abortion.

“Religious affiliation”, the study states, “is also an important factor when considering views on abortion within countries. On balance, adults with no religious affiliation who identify as atheists are more likely to say abortion should be legal in all or most cases than those who identify with a religion.”

Attitudes on abortion in the United States and Europe

Most of the countries surveyed had a more permissive attitude to legal abortion compared to the views expressed in the sub-Saharan countries.

In the United States, 62 percent of respondents of adults and in European countries some 75 percent, said abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

In European countries, however, results varied from Sweden with 95 percent support for legal abortion, to Poland with 56 percent support.