Attitudes toward abortion among students at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to describe the attitudes toward abortion of Ghanaian University students and to determine factors which are associated with supporting a woman's right to an abortion.

Methods: This cross-sectional survey was administered to residential students at the University of Cape Coast. Participants were posed a series of 26 statements to determine to what extent they were supportive of abortion as a woman's right. An exploratory factor analysis was used to create a scale with the pertinent factors that relate to abortion attitudes and a multivariable linear regression model explored the relationships among significant variables noted during exploratory factor analysis.

Results: 1038 students completed the survey and these students had a generally negative view of abortion. Two factors emerged: (1) the Abortion as a Right scale consisted of five questions (α = .755) and (2) the Moral Objection to Abortion scale consisted of three questions (α = .740). In linear regression, being older (β = 1.9), sexually experienced (β = 1.2), having a boyfriend/girlfriend (β = 1.4), and knowing someone who has terminated a pregnancy (β = 1.1) were significantly associated with a more liberal view of a right to an abortion.

Discussion: This work supports the idea that students who have personal exposure to an abortion experience hold more liberal views on abortion than those who have not had a similar exposure.

Keywords: Abortion; Abortion attitude; Exploratory factor analysis; Ghana.