"It's My Dark Secret": A Qualitative Study on the Abortion Experiences of US Active-Duty Servicewomen.

IF 3.5 2区医学 Q1 DEMOGRAPHY

Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health Pub Date : 2026-04-29 DOI:10.1111/psrh.70064

Caitlin Russell, Tiara Walz, Laura Manzo, Shelby Mueller, Sharon Messina, Sharon Arana, Keira Feng, Holly Harner

{"title":"\"It's My Dark Secret\": A Qualitative Study on the Abortion Experiences of US Active-Duty Servicewomen.","authors":"Caitlin Russell, Tiara Walz, Laura Manzo, Shelby Mueller, Sharon Messina, Sharon Arana, Keira Feng, Holly Harner","doi":"10.1111/psrh.70064","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Introduction: The Hyde Amendment limits US military abortion care and coverage for active-duty servicewomen (ADSW). ADSW face numerous barriers to care when seeking an abortion. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of US servicewomen who had an abortion while serving on active duty.Methods: Researchers conducted a qualitative secondary analysis of free-text response data using thematic analysis. We developed the codebook using a modified version of Coast et al.'s (2018) framework for Trajectories of women's abortion related care. Data were collected between December 2021 to June 2022 and included N = 178 participants who self-reported having an abortion while serving on active duty in the US military.Results: Most participants (n = 122, 62%) cited unplanned pregnancy as their reason for having an abortion. Some participants (n = 22, 12%), identified as having a \"medically necessary\" abortion (i.e., miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy). Emergent themes included lack of understanding about abortion care, financial and logistical barriers to accessing abortion care often exacerbated by military policies, lack of medical privacy, and subpar care received from military treatment facilities during pregnancy options counseling or TRICARE covered abortion care.Discussion: ADSW experience systemic barriers to care and often seek care outside of the military medical system to protect their privacy. Military healthcare professionals do not provide adequate pregnancy options counseling or patient education regarding pregnancy loss. The US Department of Defense should enact policies ensuring access to abortion care to maintain the physical well-being and mission readiness of servicewomen.","PeriodicalId":47632,"journal":{"name":"Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5000,"publicationDate":"2026-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1111/psrh.70064","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"DEMOGRAPHY","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Introduction: The Hyde Amendment limits US military abortion care and coverage for active-duty servicewomen (ADSW). ADSW face numerous barriers to care when seeking an abortion. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of US servicewomen who had an abortion while serving on active duty.

Methods: Researchers conducted a qualitative secondary analysis of free-text response data using thematic analysis. We developed the codebook using a modified version of Coast et al.'s (2018) framework for Trajectories of women's abortion related care. Data were collected between December 2021 to June 2022 and included N = 178 participants who self-reported having an abortion while serving on active duty in the US military.

Results: Most participants (n = 122, 62%) cited unplanned pregnancy as their reason for having an abortion. Some participants (n = 22, 12%), identified as having a "medically necessary" abortion (i.e., miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy). Emergent themes included lack of understanding about abortion care, financial and logistical barriers to accessing abortion care often exacerbated by military policies, lack of medical privacy, and subpar care received from military treatment facilities during pregnancy options counseling or TRICARE covered abortion care.

Discussion: ADSW experience systemic barriers to care and often seek care outside of the military medical system to protect their privacy. Military healthcare professionals do not provide adequate pregnancy options counseling or patient education regarding pregnancy loss. The US Department of Defense should enact policies ensuring access to abortion care to maintain the physical well-being and mission readiness of servicewomen.

查看原文本刊更多论文

“这是我的黑暗秘密”：美国现役女性堕胎经历的定性研究。

海德修正案限制了美国军队的堕胎护理和对现役妇女的覆盖范围。ADSW在寻求堕胎时面临许多护理障碍。本研究的目的是探讨在服役期间堕胎的美国女兵的生活经历。方法：研究人员利用专题分析对自由文本回复数据进行定性二次分析。我们使用Coast等人（2018）的妇女堕胎相关护理轨迹框架的修改版本开发了代码本。数据是在2021年12月至2022年6月期间收集的，其中包括N = 178名自称在美国军队服役期间堕胎的参与者。结果：大多数参与者（n = 122, 62%）将意外怀孕作为流产的原因。一些参与者（n = 22, 12%）被确定为“医学上必要的”堕胎（即流产、异位妊娠）。紧急主题包括对堕胎护理缺乏了解，获得堕胎护理的财务和后勤障碍往往因军事政策而加剧，缺乏医疗隐私，以及在怀孕选择咨询或TRICARE涵盖的堕胎护理期间从军事治疗设施获得的护理质量欠佳。讨论：ADSW经历了系统性的护理障碍，并经常寻求军事医疗系统之外的护理，以保护他们的隐私。军队医疗保健专业人员不提供足够的妊娠选择咨询或患者教育关于流产。美国国防部应制定政策，确保获得堕胎护理，以保持服役妇女的身体健康和任务准备。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health Multiple-

CiteScore

5.10

自引率

3.40%

发文量

期刊介绍： Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health provides the latest peer-reviewed, policy-relevant research and analysis on sexual and reproductive health and rights in the United States and other developed countries. For more than four decades, Perspectives has offered unique insights into how reproductive health issues relate to one another; how they are affected by policies and programs; and their implications for individuals and societies. Published four times a year, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health includes original research, special reports and commentaries on the latest developments in the field of sexual and reproductive health, as well as staff-written summaries of recent findings in the field.