Do males and females view abortion differently? : attitudes towards abortion among University of Malta students

Abstract

The deliberate termination of a human pregnancy has been practised since ancient times. As time progressed, the issue of abortion became more controversial. Ethical and moral queries on when a foetus becomes a person and when the right to life becomes applicable started to be questioned by citizens and lawmakers. Thus, over the years different views on abortion have been formed (Ronco, 2013). In Malta abortion is still a taboo subject. Lawmakers, doctors and people deliberately avoid talking about abortion. Recently, however, things have been shifting in Malta. Women’s rights organisations are pushing lawmakers to provide access to safe legal abortion and to give women rights over their bodies. This study aims to uncover the attitudes of University of Malta students towards abortion, and the discrepancy between genders. Using a multidimensional questionnaire designed by the researcher, 206 students were divided according to their gender and attitudes towards abortion. The results produced were then further analysed by correlating demographic variables to explain the variation in attitudes by gender. The abortion attitudes scale produced both significant and insignificant results. The results indicate that women have more pro-abortion attitudes than males, while religion and childbearing motivations demonstrate strong associations with abortion attitudes.