Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

12-1989

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Sociology

Major Professor

Suzanne B. Kurth

Committee Members

Michael Benson, James A. Black, William Lyons

Abstract

The prolonged and vociferous debate over a pregnant woman's right to abortion has been accompanied by frequent media reports of public attitudes. Recently, other legal rights of pregnant women have been denied or abridged, e.g., selection of medical treatment. Some groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, have opposed such restrictions, pregnancy regulation; however, these restrictions have not been the subject of widespread debate nor is much known about public attitudes on the topic.

Both abortion restriction and pregnancy regulation raise questions about a woman's right to control her own body or reproductive freedom. Comparison of public attitudes toward both topics provides an opportunity to explore whether the same general beliefs underlie attitudes toward these related topics. Schema theory developed by attitude theorists suggests that attitudes toward related topics may be based in the same schema or cognitive structure. Such cognitive structures direct individuals' perceptions and interpretations. If a common schema underlies attitudes toward abortion restriction and pregnancy regulation, public attitudes toward the two topics presumably would be distributed similarly.

This study addressed three questions: (a) whether the distributions of public attitudes toward abortion restriction and pregnancy regulation were similar; (b) what beliefs and social characteristics were determinants of both types of reproductive attitudes; and (c) whether a common schema appeared to underlie abortion and pregnancy regulation attitudes.

Opinion questions from previous studies of abortion and pregnancy regulation attitudes were incorporated in a questionnaire. Questions about basic beliefs on individual rights, family rights and children's rights were included as one way to ascertain cognitive structure. And, questions about attitudes (e.g., religiosity) and social characteristics (e.g., education level) often correlated with abortion attitudes were included to explore for common determinants of attitudes toward pregnancy regulation and abortion.

A general population sample was randomly drawn from the Knoxville City directory. The questionnaire was administered to 201 adults over the telephone. The sample collected was reasonably representative of the Knoxville population.

The sample was more supportive of a woman's right to abortion than of a pregnant woman's right to control her own body. The attitudes toward abortion rights< were more conservative than national attitudes, but comparable to those reported in polls of Southeastern residents of the United States.

For both abortion and pregnancy regulation attitudes, multiple regression models were developed. The model which best fit attitudes toward abortion choice was consistent with an individual rights schema. On the other hand, the model which best fit attitudes against pregnancy regulation was based on gender and beliefs about medical control.

Currently, the public does not appear to perceive both abortion and pregnancy regulation as issues of individual (woman's) rights. If pregnancy regulation becomes the focus of widespread debate, organized groups and/or the mass media may sharpen and direct perceptions to the individual rights issues involved in pregnancy regulation.

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