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Telehealth abortion expands abortion care access and affordability and helps avoid stigma and shame

New research shows the positive impact of telehealth services on medication abortion by mitigating various healthcare barriers.

Findings: Telehealth Services and Navigating Abortion Stigma and Healthcare Barriers

Telehealth medication abortion services increased access to needed health care by mitigating structural abortion stigma–which this paper defines as a combination of barriers and stigma.
Telehealth lessened barriers to abortion by offering fast and convenient care. Unlike brick-and-mortar clinics, participants felt that telehealth services more quickly accommodated their appointments and shipped medications.
Telehealth services also increased affordability of medication abortion for participants.
Many participants discussed a motivation for using of telehealth as a way of avoiding abortion stigma by evading physical abortion clinics, including the presence of anti-abortion protesters.

Implications: How Does Telehealth Services Impact Abortion Stigma?

This study analyzes the use of telehealth services to overcome abortion stigma and its associated barriers. The findings suggest that telehealth offers a promising alternative to in-clinic care, enhancing accessibility and affordability to patients seeking abortion. Patients also expressed the benefit of avoiding in-person appointments, thus circumventing any stigma often experienced with abortion clinic visits. These findings in abortion telehealth care highlight the potential to transform healthcare models that contribute to increasing healthcare reach and effectively navigating structural abortion stigmatization.

The researchers write:

“This study therefore constitutes a key step in addressing the exclusion of abortion from mainstream sociological theorization while contributing key findings that could aid in paving the way for patient-centered health models both within abortion care and beyond.”

The article, “It Was So Easy in a Situation That’s So Hard”: Structural Stigma and Telehealth Abortion, is available in Sage Journals.

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