Abortion and Contraception: Attitudes of South African University Students

Despite the availability of contraception, the rates of abortion among young women in South Africa continue to increase. We designed a study to examine young people's attitudes about abortion and contraception. One hundred and eighty-eight South African university students (97 females and 91 males) completed the survey. While we found moral objections to abortion for the sample as a whole, females showed stronger support for availability of abortion and women's autonomy compared with males. The respondents acknowledged the importance of contraception at a personal and general level, but more than 40% of them believed that women who use contraception are promiscuous. Females expressed difficulty with usage more frequently than males and indicated that they would not consider sexual intercourse if contraception were not available. For health care workers involved in counseling young people about their sexual and reproductive choices, the challenge lies in promoting a culture of equal rights and respect for women's reproductive freedom.