Abortion at Religious Schools

Women attending at private, religious schools are more likely to have an abortion than their counterparts at public schools. That’s according to a new study detailed in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior. The work is from an assistant professor at the City University of New York. Sociologist Amy Adamczyk suggests shame may be a motivation for not acting from personal religious values and insteadopting for an abortion during an unexpected pregnancy at a private school. She points out that simply attending a religious school is not necessarily an indication of a conservative religious view. Other findings:

• The type of religious school (Catholic or otherwise) was not a factor.
  
• Conservative Protestants were the least likely to report having an abortion (less likely than mainline Protestants, Catholics and women with non-Christian religious affiliations)
  
• The religious involvement of a woman's peers made no overall difference
  
• Woman attending schools with conservative Protestants were more likely to decide to keep their baby if the pregnancy occurred in their 20s than during their teen years.