“Who Am I to Say What You Can Do with Your Body?” Exploring Abortion-Moderate Georgians’ Policy Views
Abstract
Background: Following the Dobbs v. Jackson decision in 2022, Georgia began enforcing HB 481, which prohibits abortion once fetal cardiac activity is detected. Researchers have estimated that this policy prohibits nearly 90% of abortions and disproportionately affects Black, young, and low-income Georgians. The Reproductive Freedom Act (RFA) has been introduced to repeal HB 481 and other abortion restrictions, but advocates must engage a broad coalition of Georgians to successfully pass it. While prior research shows most Georgians support legal abortion, many also support certain restrictions. To date, no research has explored the views of these “abortion-moderates.” Thus, this community-led study aims to understand policy views and abortion attitudes among abortion-moderate Georgians.
Methods: A purposive sample was recruited through an initial screener that identified abortion-moderates. Eight focus group discussions on abortion attitudes and policy views were conducted with 66 abortion-moderate Georgians residing in the Savannah, Athens, and Macon Metropolitan Areas. Dedoose was used to code all transcripts, and thematic analysis was performed.
Results: Most participants were cisgender women (72.7%), Black (47.0%), and under the age of 35 (42.4%). The sample was geographically diverse, with 33.3% of participants residing around Athens, 39.4% around Macon, and 27.3% around Savannah. Participants overwhelmingly supported repealing Georgia’s abortion ban and its medically unnecessary restrictions. They often cited core values of autonomy and freedom from government control as the basis of their views. Despite this, many participants frequently voiced inaccurate or stigmatizing beliefs about abortion as sources of hesitancy.
Conclusion: Even among a sample of abortion-moderates, the vast majority supported legislative action to protect and expand abortion access in Georgia. Our findings suggest that misinformation and stigma play a substantial role in limiting support for abortion access, but that Georgians’ attitudes and policy positions on this issue are less polarized than they may seem.
Keywords
abortion, reproductive health, health communications, state policy, U.S. Southeast, health policy, qualitative methods
“Who Am I to Say What You Can Do with Your Body?” Exploring Abortion-Moderate Georgians’ Policy Views
Background: Following the Dobbs v. Jackson decision in 2022, Georgia began enforcing HB 481, which prohibits abortion once fetal cardiac activity is detected. Researchers have estimated that this policy prohibits nearly 90% of abortions and disproportionately affects Black, young, and low-income Georgians. The Reproductive Freedom Act (RFA) has been introduced to repeal HB 481 and other abortion restrictions, but advocates must engage a broad coalition of Georgians to successfully pass it. While prior research shows most Georgians support legal abortion, many also support certain restrictions. To date, no research has explored the views of these “abortion-moderates.” Thus, this community-led study aims to understand policy views and abortion attitudes among abortion-moderate Georgians.
Methods: A purposive sample was recruited through an initial screener that identified abortion-moderates. Eight focus group discussions on abortion attitudes and policy views were conducted with 66 abortion-moderate Georgians residing in the Savannah, Athens, and Macon Metropolitan Areas. Dedoose was used to code all transcripts, and thematic analysis was performed.
Results: Most participants were cisgender women (72.7%), Black (47.0%), and under the age of 35 (42.4%). The sample was geographically diverse, with 33.3% of participants residing around Athens, 39.4% around Macon, and 27.3% around Savannah. Participants overwhelmingly supported repealing Georgia’s abortion ban and its medically unnecessary restrictions. They often cited core values of autonomy and freedom from government control as the basis of their views. Despite this, many participants frequently voiced inaccurate or stigmatizing beliefs about abortion as sources of hesitancy.
Conclusion: Even among a sample of abortion-moderates, the vast majority supported legislative action to protect and expand abortion access in Georgia. Our findings suggest that misinformation and stigma play a substantial role in limiting support for abortion access, but that Georgians’ attitudes and policy positions on this issue are less polarized than they may seem.
