Attitudes of medical practitioners towards abortion: a Queensland study

Sixty-seven per cent of medical practitioners registered in Queensland responded to a survey on their attitudes to the laws relating to abortion and sterilization in that State. Of all respondents, 79 per cent wanted some degree of liberalization of abortion laws. Personal characteristics such as age, sex and religion practised (if any) were found to influence doctors' opinions. Practice characteristics also influenced opinions; general practitioners were more in favour of liberalization than were specialists, and self-employed doctors were more in favour than were doctors working in hospitals or other institutional settings.