#AbortionChangesYou: A Case Study to Understand the Communicative Tensions in Women's Medication Abortion Narratives

Providing Health Care and Social Support during Economic Crises: Lessons Learned from "Solidarity Outpatient Clinics" in Greece during the Great Recession

"Solidarity outpatient clinics" (SOCs) emerged in Greece as a novel community-based health care resource during the global economic crisis that started in 2008. They have provided crucial social support to diverse vulnerable populations. Solidarity is a critical organizational principle underlying SOCs' operation. It is juxtaposed to charity to emphasize, among other things, building symmetrical relationships between providers and patients. Employing a case study approach and a multilevel, multimethod research design, we analyzed qualitative data collected through semistructured interviews (N = 20) with patients, staff, and other local stakeholders and content of monthly informational bulletins (N = 26) and weekly radio shows (N = 48) produced by a prominent SOC in Greece's capital. Findings provide insight into structural and functional dimensions of social support exchanges at SOCs and extend our understanding of different types of social support and the organizational contexts through which they are secured, particularly during financial crises.

"Don't Walk in There": The Challenges Birthing Persons Face at the Clinic

During the summer of 2021, the author spent a week at an abortion clinic in the southern United States with two of his undergraduate students. In this piece, he engages in autoethnography and writing as a therapeutic process to show how his experience with his students changed his outlook on what abortion clinic workers, volunteers, and birthing persons go through every day. What has been happening outside abortion clinics across the country for decades needs to stop, and as someone who was not well-informed or involved before his trip to the abortion clinic, the author encourages others like him to take action to support abortion clinics with their important mission to protect the healthcare rights of birthing persons.

Medication Abortion and Abortion Pill Reversal: An Exploratory Analysis on the Influence of Others in Women's Decision-Making

Introduction As medication abortion accounts for a growing share of abortions in the United States, an increasing number of women are seeking abortion pill reversal (APR). These decisions are typically not made in isolation. However, little research exists on women's APR decision-making and the role played by people close to them. Methods We surveyed women who contacted a national hotline for information on APR and who completed a two-week treatment protocol with progesterone (n = 67). We analyzed women's open-ended answers using thematic analysis to identify memorable messages about medication abortion and APR. Participants' communication with other people in their lives was assessed using the Isolation subscale of the Individual Level Abortion Stigma (ILAS) scale, and decision-making difficulty was assessed using a Likert scale. Results Thirty-six respondents met the eligibility criteria and filled out the ILAS and decision-difficulty scales. Women tended to talk with family and friends about their medication abortion decisions, while they typically sought information online when deciding about APR. Women reported greater stigma in their disclosures about their abortions than in their disclosures about APR (p = 0.006). Conclusion Memorable messages influence women's decisions to pursue medication abortion and APR.

Coerced Abortion - The Neglected Face of Reproductive Coercion

Reproductive coercion encompasses a collection of pregnancy promoting and pregnancy avoiding behaviours. Coercion may vary in severity and be perpetrated by intimate partners or others. Research is complicated by the inclusion of behaviours that do not necessarily involve an intention to influence reproduction, such as contraceptive sabotage. These behaviours are the most common, but are not always included in survey instruments. This may explain why the prevalence of reproductive coercion varies widely. Prevalence also varies when coerced abortion is included in survey instruments. When it is, it seems roughly comparable in prevalence to coercion intended to impregnate. The extent and nature of coerced abortion can also be derived from studies that explore the reasons why women access abortion, the relationship between abortion and intimate partner violence, and online blogs and forums. This narrative review of reproductive coercion examines the evidence and attempts to comprehend why coerced abortion has been neglected.

Understanding Women's Communication with Their Providers During Medication Abortion and Abortion Pill Reversal: An Exploratory Analysis

Introduction/Objective: Medication abortion is a common experience for women in the United States, now totaling over 50% of all abortions. The purpose of this exploratory analysis is to understand women's medication abortion and abortion pill reversal decision-making experiences, with a particular focus on their communication with their medical providers. Methods: We surveyed women who contacted Heartbeat International to inquire about abortion pill reversal. Eligible women had to complete a minimum of the 2-week progesterone protocol in order to answer the questions on the electronic survey about their medication abortion and abortion pill reversal decisions. We assessed decision difficulty using a Likert scale and provider communication using the Questionnaire on the Quality of Physician-Patient (QQPPI) and analyzed women's narratives about their experiences using thematic analysis. Results: Thirty-three respondents met the eligibility criteria and filled out the QQPPI and decision-difficulty scales. Using the QQPPI scale, women scored their communication with their APR providers as significantly better than their communication with their abortion providers (p < 0.0001). Women reported that choosing medication abortion was significantly more difficult than choosing abortion pill reversal (p < 0.0001). White women, women with college degrees, and women who were not in a relationship with the father of the child reported more difficulty in choosing APR. Conclusion: As the number of women who contact the national hotline to inquire about abortion pill reversal increases, the need to understand the experiences of this growing population of women becomes more salient. This need is particularly important for health care providers who prescribe medication abortion and abortion pill reversal. The quality of the physician-patient interaction is essential to providing effective medical care to pregnant women.

The Effects of Abortion Decision Rightness and Decision Type on Women's Satisfaction and Mental Health

Background A case series report based on the Turnaway Study has previously concluded that 99% of women with a history of abortion will continue to affirm satisfaction with their decisions to abort. Those findings have been called into question due to a low participation rate (31%) and reliance on a single yes/no assessment of decision satisfaction. Aim To utilize more sensitive scales in assessing decision satisfaction and the associated mental health outcomes women attribute to their abortions. Method  A retrospective survey was completed by 1,000 females, aged 41-45, living in the United States. The survey instrument included 11 visual analog scales for respondents to rate their personal preferences and outcomes they attributed to their abortion decisions. A categorical question allowed women to identify if their abortions were wanted and consistent with their own values and preferences, inconsistent with their values and preferences, unwanted, or coerced. Linear regression models were tested to identify which of three decision scales best predicted positive or negative emotions, effects on mental health, emotional attachment, personal preferences, moral conflict, and other factors relevant to an assessment of satisfaction with a decision to abort. Results Of 226 women reporting a history of abortion, 33% identified it as wanted, 43% as accepted but inconsistent with their values and preferences, and 24% as unwanted or coerced. Only wanted abortions were associated with positive emotions or mental health gains. All other groups attributed more negative emotions and mental health outcomes to their abortions. Sixty percent reported they would have preferred to give birth if they had received more support from others or had more financial security. Conclusions Perceived pressure to abort is strongly associated with women attributing more negative mental health outcomes to their abortions. The one-third of women for whom abortion is wanted and consistent with their values and preferences are most likely over-represented in studies initiated at abortion clinics. More research is needed to understand better the experience of the two-thirds of women for whom abortion is unwanted, coerced, or otherwise inconsistent with their own values and preferences.

Improving experience of medical abortion at home in a changing therapeutic, technological and regulatory landscape: a realist review

OBJECTIVE

To inform UK service development to support medical abortion at home, appropriate for person and context.

DESIGN

Realist review SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: Peer-reviewed literature from 1 January 2000 to 9 December 2021, describing interventions or models of home abortion care. Participants included people seeking or having had an abortion.

INTERVENTIONS

Interventions and new models of abortion care relevant to the UK.

OUTCOME MEASURES

Causal explanations, in the form of context-mechanism-outcome configurations, to test and develop our realist programme theory.

RESULTS

We identified 12 401 abstracts, selecting 944 for full text assessment. Our final review included 50 papers. Medical abortion at home is safe, effective and acceptable to most, but clinical pathways and user experience are variable and a minority would not choose this method again. Having a choice of abortion location remains essential, as some people are unable to have a medical abortion at home. Choice of place of abortion (home or clinical setting) was influenced by service factors (appointment number, timing and wait-times), personal responsibilities (caring/work commitments), geography (travel time/distance), relationships (need for secrecy) and desire for awareness/involvement in the process. We found experiences could be improved by offering: an option for self-referral through a telemedicine consultation, realistic information on a range of experiences, opportunities to personalise the process, improved pain relief, and choice of when and how to discuss contraception.

CONCLUSIONS

Acknowledging the work done by patients when moving medical abortion care from clinic to home is important. Patients may benefit from support to: prepare a space, manage privacy and work/caring obligations, decide when/how to take medications, understand what is normal, assess experience and decide when and how to ask for help. The transition of this complex intervention when delivered outside healthcare environments could be supported by strategies that reduce surprise or anxiety, enabling preparation and a sense of control.

Uncovering Prolonged Grief Reactions Subsequent to a Reproductive Loss: Implications for the Primary Care Provider

Introduction

There is a paucity of clinical guidelines for the routine assessment of maladaptive reproductive grief reactions in outpatient primary care and OB-GYN settings in the United States. Because of the disenfranchised nature of perinatal grief reactions, many clinicians may be apt to miss or dismiss a grief reaction that was not identified in the perinatal period. A significant number of those experiencing a reproductive loss exhibit signs of anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder. Reproductive losses are typically screened for and recorded numerically as part of a woman’s well-visit intake, yet this process often fails to identify patients emotionally troubled by a prior pregnancy loss.

Materials and Methods

A summative content analysis of 164 recent website blogs from female participants who self-reported having experienced a miscarriage or abortion in their lifetime was conducted. The narratives were reviewed for details regarding the time span between the pregnancy loss and the composition of the blog post. The stories were analyzed for subsequent relationship problems and detrimental mental health conditions. Maladaptive reactions were contrasted for those that indicated a greater than 12 months’ time-lapse and those who had not.

Results

More than a third (39.6%) of the women reported in the narrative that at least one year or more had passed since experiencing the miscarriage or abortion. For those women, the median time span between the loss and composing the blog was 4 years with a range of 47 years. Mental health conditions attributed to the reproductive loss by those who reported longer bereavement times included subsequent relationship problems, substance misuse, depression, suicidal ideation, and PTSD. The percent of reported maladaptive issues was more than double (136.9% vs. 63.6%) for those who reported that a year or more had passed since the loss of the pregnancy.

Discussion

Grief reactions following the loss of a pregnancy may be prolonged or delayed for several months which can contribute to adverse biopsychosocial outcomes. Recognition and treatment of maladaptive grief reactions following a pregnancy loss are critical. Screening methods should be enhanced for clinicians in medical office settings to help identify and expedite the appropriate mental health assistance.