Medical students' attitudes toward abortion and other reproductive health services.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

The continued availability of legal abortions in the United States depends on the willingness of future physicians to provide this procedure. This paper explores the attitudes toward abortion issues of first- and second-year medical students at a large regional primary care-oriented medical school.

METHODS

We anonymously surveyed 286 first- and second-year medical students at the University of Washington.

RESULTS

The response rate to the written survey was 76.6%. Women were slightly overrepresented among the respondents. The majority of students supported the broad provision of reproductive health services; 58.1% felt that first-trimester abortions should be available to patients under most circumstances. Of the 43.4% of students who anticipated a career in family practice, most expected to provide abortions in their future practices. Older students and women were more likely to support the provision of abortion services.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite continuing pressure on abortion providers, most first- and second-year medical students at a fairly typical state-supported medical school intend to incorporate this procedure into their future practices.