"Distinct and Separate Issues": Examining US Adults' Attitudes Toward Abortion During COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic reshaped people's healthcare experiences and access to healthcare, including abortion. In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, some policymakers claimed that abortion is a nonessential service and should be restricted. In contrast, other policymakers contended that abortion is time-sensitive essential healthcare, and access to it should be protected. These efforts put access to abortion into the public arena during the onset of the pandemic. We examined whether people perceived the pandemic changed their attitudes toward abortion and their rationale for whether their support for abortion increased, decreased, or remained the same.

We administered a web-based survey to US-based English and Spanish-speaking adults (n = 1583) to assess their abortion beliefs. Participants answered open and close-ended questions about abortion, including whether they believe the COVID-19 outbreak changed their views about abortion and why. Because our sample was not representative of the US population, we weighted the data and present weighted results.

As expected, most participants (91.7%) indicated that the COVID-19 outbreak did not change their abortion views. Many of these participants did not see a relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and abortion. Participants who became more supportive (5.2%) cited well-being and financial concerns as reasons. Participants who became less supportive (3.1%) cited excessive death associated with the COVID-19 outbreak as their reason.

Most participants perceived that the COVID-19 pandemic did not change their views about abortion, suggesting the pandemic may not be a context linked to abortion attitudes.