Attitudes and opinions about contraception and abortion.

Abstract

This paper part of the final report on the 1999 Romanian Reproductive Health Survey presents findings on attitudes and opinions about contraception and abortion. Respondents were asked about their interest in obtaining information about contraceptive methods and about their opinion on the most appropriate information sources; the advantages and disadvantages of pill and IUD use; health risks related to pill IUD and condom use; and health risks related to abortion. Overall 72% of women and 61% of men wanted more information on contraception with younger people having higher desire for more information. Opinions regarding reliable sources of information revolved around medical personnel (gynecologists family doctors and physicians working in family planning offices) and non-medical sources (mass media parents spouse or partner). Moreover the frequency of identifying the advantages of the pill and the IUD was higher in urban areas and among women with more education. This was also true to a lesser extent for the disadvantages of using these methods. Opinions on risks to womens health due to contraceptive use focused on the pill the IUD and the condom with a scale including "no risk" "low risk" "medium risk" and "high risk." In terms of abortion two-thirds of women and men of reproductive age considered abortion to pose a "high risk" to a womans health.