Attitudes Toward the Level of Men's Involvement in Abortion Decisions

Abstract

College students completed a questionnaire that assessed their attitudes toward the level of male responsibility in abortion decisions. Overall, both men and women thought that men should have some degree of involvement in the abortion decision. However, as expected by the first hypothesis, men indicated a desire for more responsibility in the abortion decision than women thought the men should have. A second hypothesis predicted women would feel more strongly than men that abortion was strictly a woman's issue. Contrary to the hypothesis, women tended to disagree that abortion was strictly a women's issue. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Attitudes Toward Abortion in a Sample of South African Female University Students

“…At the same time, however, the sample recognizes the rights of the father, as reflected in their agreement with the item that the father should be informed about the abortion (72.6%) and the slightly lower number (62.9%) who acknowledged the rights of the father to prevent the abortion. Nelson and Coleman (1997) also found that males want to be involved in the abortion decision.…”

The first survey of attitudes of medical students in Ireland towards termination of pregnancy

“…Similarly, that fathers should have an input into the decision as to whether the mother should terminate a pregnancy 20. Other comments were that: abortion should not be permitted in the case where the woman expresses suicidal feelings—as this could be used as a ruse for obtaining an abortion; the Irish State should not bear the cost of abortion, and a preference for performing TOP only where preabortion counselling had been provided.…”

Adolescent Men's Attitudes in Relation to Pregnancy and Pregnancy Outcomes: A Systematic Review of the Literature From 1980–2009

“…Attitudes toward the level of men's involvement in abortion decisions [45] Sampling strategy: Convenience in one department in one university Data Collection: Self-administered questionnaire Overall both men and women thought that men should have some degree of involvement in the abortion decision. However, men indicated a desire for more responsibility in the abortion decision than women thought men should have Other 18% None 16.9%…”

“…For example, over two cycles (1988 and 1995) of the U.S.-based NSAM survey, a majority of the young men agreed with the statement that ''a woman should not have an abortion if her male sex partner objected'' (61% in 1988) [25,29]. The endorsement of a man's right to be involved in abortion decision-making has been further explored in many studies on college men's views in individual universities in the United States [37,40,45,46,57]. Overall, the results show male and female endorsements for greater involvement by men [40,37,45,52,57].…”