{"id":157,"date":"2013-11-01T18:39:28","date_gmt":"2013-11-01T18:39:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/menandabortion.net\/?p=157"},"modified":"2015-10-01T14:36:14","modified_gmt":"2015-10-01T14:36:14","slug":"the-relational-context-of-abortion-decision-making-a-research-note","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/menandabortion.net\/index.php\/2013\/11\/01\/the-relational-context-of-abortion-decision-making-a-research-note\/","title":{"rendered":"The Relational Context of Abortion Decision-Making: A Research Note"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/4″][vc_single_image image=”222″ img_size=”full”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/4″][vc_single_image image=”135″ img_size=”200×200″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]According to the most current survey of U.S. abortion patients in 2008, 62% of women obtaining an abortion lived with their sexual partner for one year or more prior to their abortion (Jones, Finer & Singh, 2010). The existence of a primary relationship can and often does complicate the complexity and execution of an abortion decision. All too often, particularly with the myopic emphasis on only women\u2019s reproductive rights, the relational context of abortion is minimized or ignored.<\/p>\n

A recent study (Costescu & Lamont, 2013) examined the decision-making process between women and men that ultimately led to abortion. The authors of the study reported that half of the women queried indicated that they had decided to abort prior to informing their male partners that they were pregnant. Those women who were undecided about pregnancy outcome asked for advice from their partners. While a majority of the respondents (84%) expressed satisfaction about the amount of communication with their partners, almost one-third of the men and one-fifth of the women “could have discussed it more.” Women were more likely than men (96.6% vs. 70.4%) to report being happy with the communication that occurred. Regarding the decision to abort, most (two-thirds) perceived abortion as a joint decision. However, 25% viewed it as being primarily the woman’s choice and 5% as the man’s choice.<\/p>\n

Several issues are worth noting in these findings. First, it is unusual that most of the respondents (female and male) perceived the abortion decision as a “joint” one. This may be indicative of a shift towards increasing awareness of a pregnancy’s relational context and a desire for the continuance of the relationship despite the termination of the pregnancy. Secondly, men are often reticent to communicate their true feelings about abortion. In this study, men were 13% more likely than women to report dissatisfaction with the amount of communication with their sexual partner about the abortion decision.<\/p>\n

Given the small sample of only thirty couples in this study, population-wide assumptions or generalizations about the decision-making process among all men and women who decide to seek abortion are not possible. Nonetheless, this study raises important questions including the following:<\/p>\n