The male partner involved in legal abortion

This study comprises 75 men who have been involved in legal abortion. The m en answered a questionnaire concerning living conditions and attitudes abou t pregnancy and abortion. Most men were found to be in stable relationships with good finances, More than half clearly stated that they wanted the wom an to have an abortion while 20 stressed that they submitted themselves to their partner's decision. Only one man wanted the woman to complete the pre gnancy. Apart from wanting children within functioning family units, the mo tivation for abortion revealed that the desire to have children depended on the ability to provide qualitatively good parenting. More than half the me n had discussed with their partner what to do in event of pregnancy and hal f had decided to have an abortion if a pregnancy occurred. More than half e xpressed ambivalent feelings about the coming abortion, using words such as anxiety, responsibility, guilt, relief and grief. In spite of these contra dictory feelings, prevailing expectations concerning lifestyle make abortio n an acceptable form of birth control. A deeper understanding of the comple xity of legal abortion makes it necessary to accept the role of paradox, wh ich the ambivalence reflects. Obviously, men must constitute a target group in efforts to prevent abortions.