| Abstract: | Acceptance of India's Medical Termination of Pregnancy Bill, enacted in 1972 to liberalize abortion, has been affected by cultural and psychological factors. To clarify the affective meaning accorded the term "abortion," the Osgood Semantic Differential technique was used with 354 subjects from South Delhi. Attitudes toward abortion were more favorable among men than women, unmarried women than married women, women with at least 2 living children, and those with at least a high school education as opposed to less educated men and women. The 6 abortion-related factors with the highest loadings were: volition, safety, morality, evaluation, legality, and potency. Analysis of mean composite attitude scores revealed a polarity profile of concepts, with rape, infanticide, promiscuity, and premarital abortion eliciting negative association and physician, baby, small family, and marital relationship eliciting positive associations. Of the 20 concepts that emerged from factor analysis, 2 clusters were identified: 1) goal-oriented concepts baby, doctor, small family, fertility, pregnancy, marital relationship, delivery, population control, birth control, and child as gift of God; and 2) means-oriented concepts Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, sterilization, abortion, infertility, morbidity, premarital abortion, promiscuity, quacks, infanticide, and rape. These findings suggest that minimal use of the term "abortion" should be made when referring to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, since this term provokes a negative affective meaning. Moreover, given the positive affective connation awarded doctors, more emphasis should be placed on their role in imparting health education material. |
