Examining differences in attitudes toward legal abortion in cases of endangered mental health for pregnant women: Insights from a U.S. national survey

ABSTRACT

We explored demographic differences in attitudes toward abortion in the case of mental health endangerment. A web-based survey was administered in English and Spanish to a sample of 1,583 participants. Using ordinal logistic regression with partial proportional odds, we regressed political affiliation, race/ethnicity, education, and religious attendance on people’s attitudes toward abortion legality when a woman’s mental health is endangered. Democrats and people affiliated outside of the Republican party, greater educational attainment, and attending religious services less than once a week were associated with greater endorsement of legal abortion in the case of mental health endangerment. Since abortion in the context of health endangerment is commonly discussed in abortion legislation, it is important for researchers to examine people’s attitudes when considering this specific abortion context.

KEYWORDS:

• Abortion
• Mental health
• Politics
• Religion

Notes

¹ Although a variety of terms can be used to reference the Latino community, we use the term “Latino” to be gender encompassing and account for the different denominations used for those with a Latin American origin or cultural heritage (including “Hispanic,” “Latina/o,” “Hispanic American” or “Chicana/o”).

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by an undisclosed foundation. The funder did not have any involvement in the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation of the data, writing the report, and the decision to submit the article for publication. The editors have reviewed the situation and are satisfied that a conflict of interest does not exist, and the funder has not influenced the study’s design, methods, and findings.