The relationships between sociodemographic characteristics and attitudes to induced abortion following detected fetal anomaly

Abstract

Background: Induced or artificial abortion is an elective termination of pregnancy for reasons such as unwanted pregnancy or detected birth defects in the fetus. Abortions and the related moral dilemmas are as old as time, and are common worldwide. This issue has medical, psychological, social, moral, political, legal and religious aspects, but it is still unclear which factors affect the public’s attitudes to abortion following anomalies detected in the fetus. This study aimed to examine the attitudes of the general population in Israel to abortions related to detected fetal anomalies and diseases. Methods: A questionnaire composed for the research purposes, and which related to induced abortion following anomalies detected in the fetus, was distributed to 161 participants from the general population aged 18–65 using a virtual snowball method. Results: Results showed that the more religious respondents were, the more negative their attitude to induced abortions was. Economic status also affected attitudes, so that people with a higher than average income had a more favorable attitude than people with a lower income. No differences were found between Jews and non-Jews, or various levels of education. Discussion: The findings suggest a correlation between the degree of religiosity and attitudes towards abortion following anomalies detected in the fetus, so that the more religious one is, the more negative his or her attitude to abortion is. Religion and abortion are closely connected in social and religious discourse in Israel.