Examining abortion attitudes in the context of gestational age

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study is to examine how situational abortion attitudes differ when including additional context related to the gestational age of the pregnancy. Method: Ordinary Least Squares Regression models predicting abortion attitudes across four different sets of abortion attitude questions, using data collected from an online panel weighted to match U.S. benchmarks. Results: Later gestational ages are associated with less support for abortion. Although there is some variation in the amount that support decreases across different socio-demographic groups, the predictors of abortion attitudes remain relatively stable across gestational ages. Abortion attitudes questions with no reference to weeks' gestation appear to be the most similar to questions referencing early weeks' gestation. Conclusion: When answering abortion attitude questions that do not include any reference to weeks' gestation, respondents may be more likely to think about abortion early in pregnancy. Including references to weeks' gestation may provide a more nuanced and complete understanding of abortion attitudes.