Sydney Grischow

Topic

“Abortion is No One’s Plan A”: Understanding Abortion Beliefs from Women Living in British Columbia

Department of Sociology

Date & location

• Wednesday, August 19, 2026
• 1:00 P.M.
• Cornett Building, Room A317

Examining Committee

Supervisory Committee

• Dr. Thea Cacchioni, Department of Sociology, University of Victoria (Supervisor)
• Dr. Katelin Albert, Department of Sociology, UVic (Member)

External Examiner

• Dr. Sarah Nutter, Counselling Psychology, UVic

Chair of Oral Examination

• Dr. Mara Marin, Department of Political Science, UVic

Abstract

Abortion is not simply a debate about pregnancy termination. It is a debate about knowledge, morality, control, and truth. While existing research has focused heavily on whether individuals support or oppose abortion, far less attention has been paid to how those beliefs are formed. This thesis examines how women living in British Columbia construct their beliefs about abortion and the epistemic resources they draw upon in doing so. Situated within an increasingly polarized political climate marked by misinformation, anti-science rhetoric, and competing claims to truth, this research asks not only what women believe about abortion, but how they come to understand those beliefs as true. Drawing on Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis (FCDA) alongside three main theories of belief systems, epistemic repertoires, and socially constructed knowledge, this study uses the data from twenty semi-structured interviews with cisgender women between the ages of 19 and 49 living in British Columbia. Rather than evaluating participants' beliefs as right or wrong, this research examines the knowledge sources they rely upon and how those sources become meaningful within broader systems of belief. In doing so, the thesis moves beyond the conventional pro-choice/pro-life binary and instead explores the processes through which abortion beliefs are constructed, maintained, and reinforced. The findings demonstrate that abortion beliefs are rarely rooted in a single source of knowledge. Instead, participants drew upon interconnected repertoires that included moral convictions, family and peer relationships, media, religion, and science. Participants who ultimately arrived at very different conclusions about abortion often described remarkably similar processes of belief formation, relying on knowledge they considered credible while questioning or dismissing competing forms of evidence. The findings also reveal the significant influence of American politics and media on Canadian abortion beliefs. Although abortion exists within a distinct legal and healthcare framework in Canada, participants referenced American political events, news media, social media platforms, and public figures when discussing their own opinions. The overturning of Roe v. Wade, the spread of anti-science discourse, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic, and the increasing circulation of online misinformation all emerged as influential in shaping participants' understandings of reproductive rights. These findings suggest that Canadian abortion beliefs cannot be understood in isolation from the broader North American political landscape, where misinformation and emotionally persuasive narratives frequently compete with scientific evidence as legitimate sources of knowledge. Beyond abortion itself, participants situated reproductive rights within larger conversations about gender, parenting, sexuality, bodily autonomy, healthcare, and social responsibility. Rather than existing as a single moral issue, abortion became a lens through which participants articulated their understandings of autonomy, responsibility, and individual freedom. Ultimately, this thesis argues that understanding how abortion beliefs are formed is just as important as documenting what those beliefs are.