Millions of women in the U.S. seek Ob/GYN or reproductive health care in hospitals each year. In this study with the University of Chicago, we surveyed reproductive-age women to try to determine what factors they considered when choosing which hospital to receive care.
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Abortion is common in the U.S., but remains highly stigmatized. Through an anonymous online survey, people who have shared their own personal abortion stories publicly reported their experiences as a result of sharing their stories. Respondents reported that they find sharing their abortion story to be an empowering, rewarding experience. Yet they also experience harassment and threats at high rates.
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We explored why young women choose a particular method of emergency contraception (EC), whether EC pills or the copper IUD. We found that women had varied reasons for preferring each type of EC method, and that some young people were unable to access the IUD as EC and felt stigma around repeated use of EC pills. Our findings suggest the need to support women’s decisions to use either EC method, to destigmatize repeat use of EC pills, and to improve access of the IUD as EC.
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Although abortion in the U.S. is very common, it remains highly stigmatized. As part of the Turnaway Study, we assessed perceptions of abortion stigma among people who obtained an abortion near a facility’s gestational limit and compared them to people who were denied abortion because they were past the facility’s gestational limit. We followed both groups over five years. We found that most people seeking abortion perceived abortion stigma both from people close to them and people in their community, and levels of abortion stigma were higher among those who obtained an abortion than among those denied an abortion. Perceptions of abortion stigma soon after seeking an abortion was associated with psychological distress years later.
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In recent years, many states have increased their efforts to pass legislation that restricts access to abortion and little was known about the economic and financial consequences these laws have on women and families. In this study, we used Turnaway Study data and examined participants’ credit history three years before they became pregnant and five years after to determine the impact of being denied a wanted abortion.
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States across the U.S. have enacted restrictive abortion laws, and many of those states have multiple restrictive laws in place. We examined how these laws have impacted women who considered, but did not have, an abortion. We found that, for people dealing with complex life situations, including dealing with economic insecurity, mental health, and substance use, restrictive abortion laws can make obtaining abortion care impossible.
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Many states justify laws restricting abortion – like mandatory waiting periods and ultrasound viewing – by claiming that women will come to regret their decisions. We conducted a longitudinal study of women across the country and found that 97.5% of them felt that having an abortion was the right decision one week after obtaining one and 99% felt it was the right decision five years afterward. Women had a full range of emotions, from relief to sadness, but our study found that those emotions decreased over time.
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Although research shows that abortion is very safe, many U.S. states have passed laws restricting abortion claiming a concern for patient safety. We interviewed lawmakers in three states about their abortion policy decision-making, and found that stories and the views of trusted intermediaries carried more weight than scientific evidence.
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Welcome to ANSIRH's accomplishments for 2019. We are proud to share our major achievements from the past year, including publications, media mentions, op-eds, awards, legal and legislative briefs, and other highlights.
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We documented forty-three instances of abortion disclosures or discussions onscreen in 2019, more than we’ve ever observed in a single year. Unlike 2018, the majority of characters featured in abortion plotlines were white, contrary to reality: the majority of people who have abortions are people of color. Other notable trends include multiple depictions of self-managed abortion, portrayed inaccurately as both ineffective and unsafe, as well as slightly more characters portrayed as raising children at the time of their abortion than in previous years.
Read more...Banner photo: © Aura Orozco-Fuentes
ANSIRH is a program within the UCSF Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health and is a part of UCSF's Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences.
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