{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,22]],"date-time":"2026-05-22T07:05:23Z","timestamp":1779433523087,"version":"3.53.1"},"reference-count":27,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,22]],"date-time":"2026-05-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1779408000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Reprod. Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Abortion laws are widely debated, yet little is known about how abortion knowledge relates to reproductive autonomy among university students. This study assessed Austrian students' abortion knowledge, attitudes, and reproductive autonomy, and examined factors associated with liberal vs. conservative positions.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in 2023 among students in Tyrol, Austria (\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009=\u2009750). The questionnaire included sociodemographics, prior experiences, abortion knowledge (law, access, cost), attitudes, and the 14-item Reproductive Autonomy Scale (RAS). Analyses included ANOVA, Kruskal\u2013Wallis, Mann\u2013Whitney U,\n                      <jats:italic>\u03c7<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u00b2 tests, and Spearman correlations (\n                      <jats:italic>\u03b1<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009=\u20090.05).\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Participants were 622 women and 128 men (median age 23 years). Thirty-three (4.4%) had children; 67.5% desired children; 39.9% had used emergency contraception; 25 women had undergone abortion. Only 49.7% knew abortion is legally regulated in Austria, with higher knowledge among medical students (62.2%) than other health (44.7%) or non-health students (41.6%;\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009&amp;lt;\u20090.001). Women more often identified the first-trimester regulation (74.6% vs. 60.9%;\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009=\u20090.012). Knowledge of providers and costs was generally poor, though slightly better among medical students. A social taboo was more frequently perceived by women (81.6% vs. 65.1%;\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009&amp;lt;\u20090.001). When asked when life begins, 36.1% selected \u201cheartbeat\u201d and 27.0% \u201cviability.\u201d Higher RAS scores correlated with more liberal abortion attitudes (\n                      <jats:italic>r<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009=\u2009.16\u2013.17;\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009\u2264\u20090.001).\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>In this sample of Austrian students, strong support for reproductive autonomy but limited knowledge of abortion law, access, and costs is shown. Greater reproductive autonomy aligns with more liberal attitudes. Findings support integrating structured abortion education, improving information on access, and reducing stigma.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/frph.2026.1820413","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,22]],"date-time":"2026-05-22T06:11:54Z","timestamp":1779430314000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Abortion knowledge, attitudes and reproductive autonomy among university students in Austria: a cross-sectional study"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"8","author":[{"given":"Bettina","family":"B\u00f6ttcher","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Gynecological Endocrinology and Reproductive Medicine, Medical University of Innsbruck","place":["Innsbruck, Austria"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"David","family":"Riedl","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Psychosomatics and Medical Psychology, University Hospital of Psychiatry II, Medical University of Innsbruck","place":["Innsbruck, Austria"]},{"name":"Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Rehabilitation Research","place":["Vienna, Austria"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Elisabeth","family":"Reiser","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Gynecological Endocrinology and Reproductive Medicine, Medical University of Innsbruck","place":["Innsbruck, Austria"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Magdalena","family":"Flatscher-Thoeni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health, Health Services Research and Health Technology Assessment, UMIT TIROL \u2013 University for Health Sciences and Technology","place":["Innsbruck, Austria"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bettina","family":"Toth","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Gynecological Endocrinology and Reproductive Medicine, Medical University of Innsbruck","place":["Innsbruck, Austria"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","year":""},{"key":"B2","year":""},{"key":"B3","year":""},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.4324\/9781315556291","volume-title":"The Latin American Casebook: Courts, Constitutions, and Rights","author":"Gonzalez-Bertomeu","year":"2016"},{"key":"B5","volume-title":"Philosophische Bewertungsm\u00f6glichkeiten der Abtreibung","author":"Kindl","year":"2021"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1093\/acprof:oso\/9780195341621.001.0001","volume-title":"Life Before Birth: The Moral and Legal status of Embryos and Fetuses","author":"Steinbock","year":"2011"},{"key":"B7","first-page":"283","article-title":"Philosophy & public affairs","volume":"20","author":"Thomson","year":"1991","journal-title":"Self defense"},{"key":"B8","first-page":"360","volume-title":"On the Moral and Legal status of Abortion. 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