Attitudes of medical students towards the ethical and legal aspects of abortion: A cross-sectional study from Saudi Arabia

Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy which is a crucial
issue to be addressed by multiple regulating systems such as health care
providers and policy makers. The main aim of the study was to assess the
attitudes of medical students in Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University
towards abortion in different circumstances. This is a descriptive
cross-sectional study in which a 20-item online questionnaire was
distributed through social media platforms to medical students. The
results of the study showed that the majority of the students believe
abortion should be determined by law, religion and spousal consent. The
majority as well support abortion in cases of endangered mother’s life,
fetal life compromise and rape victims. However, they were against
abortion in cases of financial incapacity of the parents and cases of
unplanned pregnancy. The results of the study can be applied to improve
medical education of abortion. More studies in this field of research are
recommended for the purpose of providing more inclusive assessment of
abortion attitudes in different medical education
settings.