[Acceptance of voluntary termination of pregnancy in the French 18-to-24-year-old population in 2021].

OBJECTIVES: report on acceptance of voluntary interruption of pregnancy in 2021 in the French 18-to-24-year-old population and to compare the results with the acceptance reported in 2014 in the Institut Français d'Opinion Publique survey.

METHODS: A French cross-sectional study with questionnaires administered between February and April 2021. The target population was 18 to 24 years of age. For purposes of comparison, the question on acceptance of voluntary interruption of pregnancy was basically the same as that of the 2014 Institut Français d'Opinion Publique survey, as were the proposed response modalities. Data were described in terms of means ± standard deviation and number (percentage). Conditions for acceptance of voluntary interruption of pregnancy were compared with the results of the 2014 Institut Français d'Opinion Publique survey using the Chi-square test. Factors associated with acceptance of voluntary interruption of pregnancy without restrictive conditions were studied using univariate analysis (Student, Chi-square or Fisher exact tests) and multivariate analysis (logistic regression).

RESULTS: Close to 2000 (1936) questionnaires were completed, including 1225 among 18-to-24-year-olds. Voluntary interruption of pregnancy was accepted without restrictive conditions by 92.1% of the study population (95%CI: 90.4-93.5) compared to 79.0% in 2014 (p < 0.0001). Female gender (93.4 % versus 85.8%; OR = 2.1 [1.4-3.4]; p = 0.0009) and residence outside of Paris (94.9% versus 86.6%; OR = 2.8 [1.9-4.3]; p < 0.0001) were significantly associated with acceptance of voluntary interruption of pregnancy without restrictive conditions.

CONCLUSION: In 2021 in France, the 18-to-24-year-old population is massively favorable to voluntary interruption of pregnancy without restrictive conditions, in a significantly higher proportion than in 2014.