Attitudes of Jordanians Toward Therapeutic Abortion-A Qualitative Study

Background: Therapeutic abortion is a controversial topic since people throughout the world have different views on it. Methods: In this qualitative study, 12 adults (ages 19-36 years) from Irbid, in the Northern region of Jordan, were selected from a variety of public locations (markets, mosques) in April and May 2025 to participate in semi-structured interviews with the goal of exploring attitudes toward therapeutic abortion. The interviews, which lasted an average of 30 min, focused on two primary topics: attitudes about therapeutic abortion and determining who has the authority to make abortion decisions. An audio recorder was used to capture the responses, which were then preserved in their original, unaltered state. Following verbatim transcription, the responses were subjected to thematic analysis in order to determine the main themes. The original code was made manually. Results: Three themes were identified under the first topic: "unconditional rejection", "conditional acceptance", and "empathetic and woman-centered attitudes". Medical and religious experts' decision-making arose by the theme of "abortion decision" that emerged in relation to the second topic. Conclusions: Jordanians have conflicting views on therapeutic abortion and are adamantly opposed to making their own decisions on the matter.