(Re)Conceptualizing abortion attitudes through the lens of Abortion Tolerance

Kristen N. Jozkowski, Amelia Hawbaker, Jacqueline Y. Paiz, Brandon L. Crawford and Ronna C. Turner

Social Science & Medicine, 2025, vol. 383, issue C

Abstract: In this study we identified Abortion Tolerance, a construct related to attitude development we conceptualize as people accepting, allowing, or enduring the notion of abortion in theory and/or in practice, which is distinctly different than conceptualizations of solely abortion support or opposition. Using data from qualitative interviews (N = 170), we examined how US adults describe abortion, conceptualize abortion, and articulate their own attitudes toward abortion. We found tension in people's attitudes toward abortion as they concurrently conceive abortion as something that is both generally undesirable (often due to perceptions of ending a life), but also necessary and useful (often for the pregnant person) and that these attitudes manifested through a preference for parenting and adoption over abortion and the desire of abortion to be prevented and regulated, yet for the government to not be involved. We found that people experience a dilemma when contemplating abortion, particularly experiencing a tension between maternal and fetal prioritization, which is better sorted out via a continuum of tolerance than outright support or opposition.

Keywords: Abortion attitudes; Legality; Morality; Qualitative interviews (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:socmed:v:383:y:2025:i:c:s0277953625007518

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DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118420

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