Attitudes regarding the safety of in-clinic and self-managed abortion methods among the US general public in early 2022.

Abstract

Medication abortion (MAB) is extremely safe-including when accessed outside the formal healthcare system-yet misinformation about its safety often influences policy, and research regarding public perceptions about its safety remains limited. In 2021-2022, we administered a US national probability-based online survey to 7,376 English- and/or Spanish-speaking people assigned female (AFAB, ages 15-49; N = 7,016) or male at birth (AMAB, ages 18-49; N = 360) to assess perceptions of MAB and self-managed abortion method safety. To identify characteristics associated with safety attitudes, we estimated weighted proportions and conducted multivariable multinomial logistic regressions. While approximately half of respondents believed MAB is safe when obtained in-clinic (52% AFAB/43% AMAB), very few believed it is safe when obtained outside the formal healthcare system (7% AFAB/5% AMAB). In multivariable analyses, prior awareness of MAB and the belief that abortion should be legal were associated with the belief that MAB is safe, both when accessed in-clinic and outside the formal healthcare system. Respondents living in US states that were restrictive to abortion rights/access were less likely to agree that in-clinic MAB is safe compared to those in protective abortion policy environments. The general public holds misinformation about the safety of MAB, particularly when obtained outside the formal healthcare system.