Determinants of Knowledge and Opinions about Abortion Law among Men and Women in Rajasthan, India

Hillary Bracken, Population Council
Batya Elul, Population Council
Sandhya V. Barge, Center for Operations Research and Training (CORT)
Shalini Verma, Population Council
Meagan Cavanaugh, Independent Consultant

The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act of 1971 entitled women in India to legal abortion services. However, a majority of women continue to seek abortion services from unlicensed or illegal providers. Public knowledge and opinions about the legal status of abortion may affect women's access to safe abortion services. Data from a community-based survey of 3266 married women and 606 married men in Rajasthan, India were analyzed to explore knowledge and opinions about abortion law. Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with participants' knowledge and opinions of the legal status of abortion. Preliminary results suggest that higher literacy and awareness of the practice of sex selective abortion are associated with men's and women's knowledge of the legal status of abortion. The odds of having correct knowledge about the legal status of abortion were also increased for women with more liberal opinions about abortion.