The Impact of Pro-life Education on Abortion Attitude Among College Students in Nepal

Abstract

Since the legalization of abortion in Nepal in 2002, the number of induced abortions has increased. Various national and international organizations have been giving greater attention and effort to enhancing the public’s knowledge on legal abortion. However, little research on pro-life education and its impact on abortion attitude have been conducted in Nepal and around the world at large. The purpose of this research was to explore the impact of pro-life education on abortion attitude among college students in Nepal. This one group pretest posttest study was based on the cognitive dissonance theory (CDT) which postulates that education brings attitude change. The study was conducted in Kathmandu, Nepal from December 18th - 24th, 2012. The research participants consisted of 145 Nepali college students aged 18 years and above from three colleges in Kathmandu city. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the demographic characteristics of the participants. The results of paired t test showed that there was a significant difference (t= -14.63, df= 144, p=0.000, α=0.05) between the pre-test (x̅=2.91, SD ±.27) and the post-test (x= 3.22, SD± .24) after pro-life education. This study supports the hypothesis that pro-life education brings change in abortion attitude. In addition, this study supports the application of CDT on pro-life education. Further research is recommended concerning 1) the impact of pro-life education on abortion attitude and behavior change among various population groups, 2) concept analysis on the term “pro-life” and 3) testing of pro-life attitude scale that was developed for this study is recommended. The result of this study encourages health care providers and pro-life organizations to continue pro-life education with the hope of reducing the number of abortions worldwide.