It Makes It More Real to You

Abortion Attitudes Following Experience and Contact With Abortion

Bibliographic Data

ID6444906
AuthorsJulieta Baker (0009-0006-6799-9498, Brunel University of London), Nicole M Lozano (0000-0002-4171-8305, Angelo State University), Aneeka Shrestha (Brunel University of London), Sanyu Kayser, Ssanyu Kayser (Brunel University of London), Lora Adair (0000-0002-8965-3221, Brunel University of London, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume57
Issue2
Pages198-210
Publication date2025-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePerspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1538-6341 • E-ISSN: 1931-2393
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/psrh.70019
PMID40534175
OpenAlexW4411434082
LanguageEN
References cited103

Introduction When positioned as part of a cluster of related social and political attitudes, abortion attitudes are characterized as somewhat fixed from a young age. The extent to which abortion attitudes are malleable, and can be shaped by experience, is under‐researched in the United Kingdom (UK). Methods To address this gap, we conducted semi‐structured interviews with individuals with ( N = 12) and without ( N = 16) abortion experience living in the United Kingdom, consisting of England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Inductive thematic analysis was used to address the research question: How does experience and/or contact with abortion shape attitudes towards abortion? Results The theme From Abstract Idea to Reality illustrates participants' understanding of how abortion attitudes are developed by contact with real, lived experiences of abortion—someone's own and/or their friends’ or acquaintances’ abortions. Participants were clear that proximity to abortion helped them, and others, to see abortion as tangible, personal, and sensory (“reality”) as opposed to intangible, imagined, and conceptual (“abstract”). Subthemes capture our participants’ understanding of abortion as a reality as opposed to something imagined; abortion is a complex issue and abortion experiences are varied ( Complexity of Abortion ), attitudes towards abortion are largely stable ( Consistency of Attitudes ), and abortion, and the people who seek abortion in the United Kingdom, is still stigmatized ( Persistent Stigma ). Conclusion Our themes and discussion provide direction for future scholarship considering contact as a stigma reduction strategy, highlighting some potential benefits but also urging caution in oversimplifying a complicated social issue

Abortion · Pregnancy · Qualitative research · Social science · Sociology · Thematic analysis · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health · Gender Studies · Medicine · Psychology · Reproductive Health and Contraception · Reproductive Health and Technologies · Social Psychology

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