Abortion Rights Attitudes in Europe: Pro-Choice, Pro-Life, or Pro-Nation?

This article examines the association between ethnonationalist attitudes and abortion approval across thirty European countries using data from the 2017 European Values Survey (EVS). It finds that stronger ethnonational identity and distrust of foreigners correlate with greater disapproval of abortion, an effect that is unexpectedly more pronounced among less religious and more gender-liberal individuals, as well as in more economically and socially modernized European countries. The study controls for established predictors such as religiosity, gender role attitudes, and demographic factors, and highlights that ethnonationalism operates as an independent and modifying factor influencing abortion attitudes beyond the traditional pro-choice (feminist) versus pro-life (religious) framework. At the country level, higher average ethnonationalist sentiment is linked to increased abortion disapproval, though this relationship is partly mediated by modernization indicators. The findings contribute empirical support to feminist theories on nationalism's impact on reproductive rights and suggest that rising ethnonationalism may influence restrictive abortion policies and public attitudes in Europe.