Love, sex, permissiveness, and abortion: a test of alternative models

Alternative models of premarital abortion permissiveness (PAP) are tested with a two-state sample of single college women. The first model proposes that number of times in love (Love) leads to coitus (Sex) and that coitus increases premarital sexual permissiveness (PSP), which in turn leads to greater acceptance of abortion (PAP). The second posits a causal path from Love to PSP to Sex to PSP. The data appear to be consistent with a revised third model. The paths between Love and PAP and between Love and PSP are negligible, indicating that the effects of Love on PSP and PAP are mediated by Sex. The revised model suggests that as number of times in love increases so does coital experience and that coitus has both a direct effect on PAP and an indirect effect through PSP.