Background: This paper investigated the potential importance of women’s autonomy in reproductive healthcare-seeking behavior of women in Ethiopia.

Methods: Data from the 2011 Ethiopian Demographic and Health survey (DHS), that involved a total of 16,515 women, were analyzed. A weighted sub-sample of married women and women who had had a live birth were included in analyses on family planning and antenatal care. Women’s autonomy was measured by participation in decision-making, attitudes toward wife beating and whether getting permission to seek medical care was a big problem.

Results: Nearly 54% of women participated in all major household decisions, and 69% said getting permission to go for medical care was not a large problem. Women’s participation in domestic decision-making was significantly positively associated with use of family planning (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 1.37, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.17–1.62) and antenatal care (aOR: 1.36, 95% CI: 1.13–1.64) after adjusting for the effects of socio-demographic variables. Moreover, greater women’s education, paid employment, exposure to media and better household economic status were related to both use of family planning and antenatal care.