Conocimientos, actitudes y percepciones de los estudiantes de la carrera de medicina de la Universidad de Cuenca sobre la despenalización del aborto y aborto voluntario, 2020 – 2021

Abstract

Background: 15% of maternal deaths in Ecuador are due to clandestine abortions, which is why the country is still on the list of nations that consider abortion as an illegal act in their laws. General objective: This research project seeks to identify the knowledge, attitudes and perceptions about voluntary abortion and its decriminalization, in Medicine students of the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the University of Cuenca, within the period July - December 2020. Methodology: A quantitative descriptive study was carried out, the universe was made up of 1170 medical students from the University of Cuenca, and through a randomized structured online survey, 289 students were selected, the information provided by them served for the analysis of the established variables, exposed in descriptive statistics. Expected results: It was identified that 3.5% of the students were aware of the legal grounds that allow abortion in Ecuador. 91.70% said they did not agree with voluntary abortion, 82.86% of those investigated considered the causes studied in the form as sufficient for Ecuadorian legislation to decriminalize abortion. The perception that abortion is a public health problem was considered by 88.60% of those surveyed.