A majority of young Canadians say abortions should not be legal after 12 weeks gestation.  The findings come from a January 2013 Environics poll commissioned by Life Canada, the national educational pro-life organization. The survey found that a majority of Canadians in all regions and demographic groups say that human life should receive legal protection some time prior to birth.
Young Canadians, especially, want legal restrictions on late-term abortions.  The results of the poll show that almost 80% of 18-29 year-olds polled opposed legal third trimester abortions and 55% opposed second trimester abortions. In the general populations, 65% said third trimester abortions should be illegal, and 46% were against second trimester abortions. 71% of Canadians think abortion should be legal in the first trimester.
Participants were given information about fetal development and informed that there are no legal restrictions on abortion in Canada at any stage of pregnancy. In response to the question asking at what point in human development the law should protect human life, 60% of participants said there should be legal protection at some point before birth. The breakdown is as follows: 23% in favour of protection from conception on, 13% after two months gestation, 14% after three months, and 10% after 6 months. In total, 50% thought the law should protect human life at the end of the first trimester.
The Life Canada press release mentioned that Lisa Smith , president of the organization “noted that the recent furor over late abortions was a good wake up call for Canadians. People were horrified to hear about babies here in Canada surviving late term abortions and then dying,” she said. ” We don’t know how and why they died because the information isn’t usually reported but thanks to a persistent blogger we finally got a few statistics and that really shocked people.”
…”It’s encouraging to see that young people want legal restrictions on late abortions,” said Smith.”These youth were raised in an abortion-on- demand culture and they know the damage it has wreaked among their families. It’s also interesting that women are more supportive of restrictions than men. Like the youth, the women know the pain of abortion.”