Abstract:
Back ground: Abortion legalization is a legalization specifically addressing when a pregnant woman can
have an abortion based on the circumstances of her pregnancy. Despite different measures taken, unsafe
abortion still contributes the highest maternal death in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) including Ethiopia.
Knowledge, attitude towards abortion legalization at community level is not well known, and almost all of
the previously conducted studies were focused on students and at health facility level.
Objective: To assess the knowledge, attitude towards abortion legalization and associated factors among
reproductive age women in Sululta district, Ethiopia 2021.
Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was used among 421 randomly selected reproductive
age women from October to November 2021. Data were collected using a pre-tested interviewer
administered structured questionnaire. The collected data were entered into EPI Data version 3.1 and
analyzed using SPSS version 21.0 software. Results were presented using frequency tables and
percentages. Binary and multiple logistic regression analyses were carried out to identify factors associated
with knowledge, attitude toward abortion legalization at 95%CI and p- value of <0.05.
Results: A total of 419 respondents participated with 99.5% response rate. The study showed that only 35.1
%( 95%CI: 30.4-39.6%) had good knowledge, 62.5 %( 95%CI: 58.2-66.8%) had positive attitude towards
abortion legalization. Reproductive age women who had knowledge of emergency contraception
(AOR=2.21, 95%CI: 1.37-3.56); currently use contraception (AOR= 3.12, 95%CI: 1.79-5.45); have
functional radio (AOR=1.96, 95%CI: 1.17-3.28) and who had positive attitude were (AOR =9.61, 95% CI:
5.35-17.24) times more likely to have good knowledge of abortion legalization. While, ever been practiced
sex (AOR=3.08, 95%CI: 1.24-7.63); ever had history of abortion (AOR=1.89, 95%CI: 1.07-3.34) and
having good knowledge of abortion legalization were (AOR= 9.92, 95%CI: 5.46-18.02) times more likely
to have positive attitude towards abortion legalization.
Conclusions: The study indicated that knowledge of reproductive age women toward abortion legalization
was low but more than half of respondents had positive attitude toward abortion legalization. Knowledge of
emergency contraception, currently use of contraception, functional radio and positive attitude were
significantly associated with good knowledge of abortion legalization and having history of abortion, ever
practice sex and having good knowledge of abortion legalization were significantly associated with positive
attitude towards abortion legalization. So that , Oromia Health bureau, Oromia special zone surrounding
Finfine health department and Sululta District health office should work jointly to create awareness and it`s
benefits on local basis to enhance community knowledge towards legal aspects of abortion services through
mass media such as radio and reading materials.
