Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

Publication Date

2023

College

Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, College of

Department

Sociology, Department of

BURS Faculty Advisor

Erin Pryor

Presentation Type

Oral Presentation

Abstract

Religious Involvement and the Attitudes Toward Birth Control

Carly Jacobs, Rachel LaFont, Whitney Wright

Faculty Advisor: Erin M. Pryor, Ph.D.

Key words: religion, birth control, contraceptive, sexual education, pregnancy prevention

Historically, religious communities with conservative beliefs about sex and procreation offer limited access to and deter the use of birth control for pregnancy prevention (Cole & Geist, 2021; Piper et al., 2022; Wilde & Danielsen, 2014). Studies show that the higher religiosity involvement someone has, the less likely they are to use any artificial birth control to prevent pregnancy, and the more likely for them to remain abstinent (Piper et al., 2022). Recognizing the disparity in education of and access to birth control is important in continuing the fight for reproductive justice (Price, 2020; Roberts, 2015; Ross & Solinger, 2017). Therefore, our research explores religious involvement, attitudes toward birth control, and how different religions affect access to birth control in different ways. Through Dr. Pryor’s Social Research Methods class, we have synthesized previous research literature and explored different methodologies including: surveying Belmont students in an Introduction to Sociology course, analyzing a secondary data source of a CBS News survey about the Catholic church, analyzing content of sexual education initiatives, and interviewing a Belmont student about their experience. All of these methods were used to further our understanding of the influence of religion on access to and the use of birth control.

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