Effect of College Students' Awareness of Respect for Life, Awareness of Bioethics, and Policy Support related to Abortion on Abortion Awareness

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the effects of college students' awareness of respect for life, bioethics, support for abortion-related policies, and demographic characteristics (major, grade, religion, sexual attitude, sexual intercourse) on abortion awareness. For this purpose, an online survey was conducted from December 10, 2021 to January 30, 2022, targeting 116 students attending universities in Incheon, Chungnam, Chungbuk, and Gyeongbuk. With the SPSS 23.0 program, the degree of respect for life, bioethics, support for abortion-related policy, and awareness of abortion were analyzed by t-test and ANOVA according to demographic characteristics and post-test by Sdheffe. The correlation between demographic characteristics, respect for life, bioethics, support for abortion-related policy and awareness of abortion was analyzed by Pierce correlation analysis, and factors affecting the perception of abortion were analyzed by multiple regression analysis. Abortion awareness according to demographic characteristics showed significant differences according to major, grade, religion, sexual knowledge acquisition path, sexual attitude, and sexual experience. Awareness of respect for life, consciousness of bioethics, major, religion, and sexual attitude showed a quantitative correlation with abortion awareness, and abortion-related policy support, grade and sexual experience showed negative correlation with abortion awareness. It was found that the factor influencing the awareness of abortion was the awareness of bioethics, and it was found to account for 49.1% of the variance in the perception of abortion. Based on the research results, various education and methods should be explored to strengthen the awareness of bioethics in order to prevent abortion among university students.