Termination of pregnancy: Perspectives of female students in Durban, South Africa

Abstract

Abstract

Abortion attitudes among South Africans: findings from the 2013 social attitudes survey

“…This finding is consistent with previous evidence in South Africa and other settings that has suggested attitudes toward abortion differ across the circumstances of pregnancy (Gresh and Maharaj 2014; Macleod, Sigcau, and Luwaca 2011; Mwaba and Naidoo 2006; Patel and Johns 2009; Patel and Kooverjee 2009; Ronco 2014; Varga 2002; Vincent 2012; Wheeler et al 2012). Our findings echo previous qualitative and subpopulation surveys that demonstrated the risk of birth defects or other disabilities is considered a relatively acceptable reason for abortion (Gresh and Maharaj 2014; Mwaba and Naidoo 2006; Patel and Kooverjee 2009; Varga 2002). While close-ended questions and responses on the SASAS limit interpretability, these more lenient attitudes toward abortion in the case of serious foetal anomaly are likely tied to stigmatisation of disability throughout South Africa – as documented in previous regionally-specific South Africa studies (Gresh and Maharaj 2014; Varga 2002).…”

“…While abortion stigma is a complex phenomenon that unfolds through a number of mechanisms at the macro and micro levels, negative individual-level attitudes toward abortion can be conceptualised as potential predictors of stigmatisation and resulting unsafe abortion (Gresh and Maharaj 2014; Harries, Stinson, and Orner 2009; Mwaba and Naidoo 2006; Varga 2002). In South Africa, researchers have documented negative attitudes toward abortion, but these are highly variable across the specific dimension of abortion (for example, moral compared to legal acceptability), circumstances of pregnancy, gender group, gender attitudes, religion and religiosity (Gresh and Maharaj 2014; Harries, Stinson, and Orner 2009; Harries et al 2007; Macleod, Sigcau, and Luwaca 2011; Mwaba and Naidoo 2006; Patel and Johns 2009; Patel and Kooverjee 2009; Varga 2002; Vincent 2012; Wheeler et al 2012).…”

“…In South Africa, researchers have documented negative attitudes toward abortion, but these are highly variable across the specific dimension of abortion (for example, moral compared to legal acceptability), circumstances of pregnancy, gender group, gender attitudes, religion and religiosity (Gresh and Maharaj 2014; Harries, Stinson, and Orner 2009; Harries et al 2007; Macleod, Sigcau, and Luwaca 2011; Mwaba and Naidoo 2006; Patel and Johns 2009; Patel and Kooverjee 2009; Varga 2002; Vincent 2012; Wheeler et al 2012). Most evidence to date has come from qualitative work and non-representative surveys among health workers in the Western Cape (Harries, Stinson, and Orner 2009; Harries et al 2007), adolescents and students in KwaZulu-Natal (Gresh and Maharaj 2014; Mwaba and Naidoo 2006; Patel and Johns 2009; Patel and Kooverjee 2009; Wheeler et al 2012) and community members in the rural Eastern Cape (Macleod, Sigcau, and Luwaca 2011). Broadly, South Africans seem to hold positive attitudes toward availability of abortion while still harboring strongly negative attitudes toward moral acceptability of abortion or women’s autonomy to choose an abortion (Patel and Johns 2009; Patel and Kooverjee 2009).…”

“…Notably, young and unmarried women in South Africa are simultaneously faced with the expectation of sexual availability for heterosexual partnerships, severe stigma against adolescent pregnancy and particularly restricted access to safe abortion options (Edin et al 2016; Varga 2002; Waxman et al 2016). Many in South Africa attribute their disapproval of abortion to religion, morality or culture (Gresh and Maharaj 2014; Macleod, Sigcau, and Luwaca 2011; Ronco 2014; Varga 2002), but researchers warn such static and homogeneous framing of culture ignores pre-colonial, indigenous abortion traditions and reinforces existing gender inequities (Macleod, Sigcau, and Luwaca 2011). Even after controlling for religion and religiosity, attitudes toward abortion accessibility and women’s autonomy to choose abortion (but not the moral acceptability of abortion) differ by gender, with women holding more egalitarian attitudes than men (Patel and Johns 2009; Patel and Kooverjee 2009).…”

Family planning counselling and use among clients seeking abortion services in private health facilities in Kenya

“…In the context of abortion, perceived high costs of services in private health facilities might lead economically disadvantaged women to resort to unsafe abortions with the attendant morbidity and mortality risks (Wamugi et al 2014). However, even for those who might afford the services of private providers, the type of care they receive might be affected by various factors including the available resources, availability of appropriate services, client choice, technical competence of providers, and interperson-al relations with clients (Bruce 1990;Gresh and Maharaj 2014). In particular, the provision of family planning services to abortion clients in private health facilities might be affected by the availability of the methods or the technical competence of the providers to offer the methods.…”