Assessment of Attitudes Towards Induced Abortion Among Adults Residing In Mizan-Aman Town Bench-Maji Zone, Snnprs, South West Ethiopia 2017

Introduction: Induced abortion defined as the intentional termination of the pregnancy for medical or any other reason before it reaches to viability. It is an important cause of bleeding during pregnancy and one of the five leading cause of maternal death in the developing world. It is stigmatized topic, both politically and socially which is surrounded by privacy, shame and misconceptions, which can lead to negative health and social consequences. Community attitudes and stigma, can pose important barriers to accessing reproductive health services. It is believed that the information generated through this study will fill some gaps in the study area in particular, and in the country at large. Objective: To assess the attitude towards induced abortion among adults residing in Mizan Aman town, Bench Majizone, Snnprs, South West Ethiopia, 2017. Methodology: A quantitative community based cross sectional study was used to assess the attitude towards induced abortion among adults residing in Mizan Aman town, Bench Maji zone. A Systematic random sampling technique was used to select study participants. Total samples of the study were 498. Individuals were interviewed by using standardized and structured questionnaire. The data was collected by 4 th year Bsc. nursing students and the collected data was analyzed using scientific calculator and the result is presented using tables and charts. Result: Out of 498 study participants 486 responds to the questions which gives response rate of 97.6%. Among the study participants, 200 (41.15%) had positive attitude towards induced abortion and the rest 286 (58.85%) had negative attitude. From the sampled population 270 (55.6%) of the participants support induced abortion if the fetus has serious defect in utero, 394 (81.1%) of the participants support induced abortion if the pregnancy seriously threatens the mother life, 249 (51.2%) of the participants support induced abortion if the family has low income and cannot afford more children and 261 (53.7%) of the participants support induced abortion if the pregnancy is due to rape. Conclusion and Recommendation: Among the participant, more than half had negative attitude towards induced abortion. Since more than half of the respondent opposes induced abortion, the government should design effective policy and implement to the ground to promote safe induced abortion.