KINGSTON, Jamaica — Almost seven in every 10 Jamaicans would not recommend an abortion to a friend who is faced with an unwanted pregnancy, the Jamaica Gleaner reported on May 22.
Only one in seven persons (14 per cent) would recommend the termination of the pregnancy, while 17 per cent would give their advice based on the situation that the woman faced or who caused the pregnancy.
In a recently conducted all-island poll by Johnson Survey Research Limited, the vast majority of respondents said that they would not recommend an abortion because it was wrong and illegal, because it is a sin, or because they did not believe that it was their role to provide any such advice.
The survey was conducted between April 27 and 29 islandwide, with 1,000 Jamaicans between the ages of 15 and 49, and has a sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 per cent.
The majority of the respondents (65 per cent) were Jamaicans between the ages of 15 and 34, with 46 per cent ending their schooling at the secondary level. About 13 per cent of respondents were college graduates, 11 per cent had completed university, while two per cent had completed graduate, law or medical school.
Just over 80 per cent of the respondents said that they considered themselves religious, with 49 per cent attending church between once each week and once each month.
