Table 3. First and final-year students’ personal opinions on when abortion should be legal
Circumstances in which abortion should be legal Legal by current law Not considered legal by current law
Rape Life risk* Rape of a woman  with developmental disabilities Health risk Mental health risk Severe foetal malformations* Woman´s will less than 12 weeks of pregnancy* Any foetal malformation* Lack financial resources Contraceptive failure*
Medicine First year N = 219 n 193 158 159 90 60 136 8 18 19 13
% 88.10 72.10 72.60% 41.10 27.40 62.10 3.70 8.20 8.70 5.90
Last year N = 263 n 248 255 240 147 121 251 57 34 33 28
% 94.10 96.90 91.30 55.80 45.90 95.50 21.20 13.00 12.50 10.70
p value   0.05 0.001 0.001 0.05 0.001 0.001 0.001
Nursing First year N = 65 n 59 43 51 32 20 36 5 18 8 4
% 90.80 66.20 78.50 49.20 30.80 55.40 7.70 27.70 12.30 6.10
Last year N = 37 n 35 31 30 16 15 32 3 14 2 0
% 94.80 83.80 81.70 42.90 40.30 86.40 7.80 38.20 5.20 0.00
p value   0.05
Midwifery First year N = 30 n 28 22 26 13 7 17 2 2 1 1
% 93.30 73.30 86.70 43.30 23.30 56.70 6.70 6.70 3.30 3.30
Last year N = 36 n 34 33 29 20 19 35 7 8 4 3
% 94.40 91.70 80.60 55.60 52.80 97.20 19.40 22.20 11.10 8.30
p value   0.05 0.05 0.05
Other studies First year N = 73 n 71 49 62 46 31 46 2 20 6 4
% 97.80 80.40 84.70 63.10 42.50 65.30 3.10 29.50 8.00 5.80
Last year N = 75 n 70 61 64 40 30 64 8 9 7 3
% 92.30 82.70 84.70 54.10 42.60 85.20 10.90 11.80 9.40 4.20
p value   0.001 0.05 0.05
Total students First year N = 387 n 351 282 298 181 118 235 17 58 34 22
% 91.80 74.10 77.70 49.40 32.70 62.10 4.10 17.70 8.80 5.90
Last year N = 411 n 387 380 363 223 185 382 75 65 46 34
% 93.70 91.40 88.20 54.00 44.60 91.70 16.80 15.30 10.90 7.70
p value   0.001 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.001

*Circumstances in which there was a significant difference among final-year students by fields of study (p < 0.05)

Int J Med Educ. 2016; 7:95-101; doi: 10.5116/ijme.56e0.74be