Jessica L Dozier, Anne E Burke, Hayley V McMahon, Blair O. Berger, Madeline Quasebarth, Carolyn Sufrin, Suzanne O Bell
{"title":"\"如果不是大流行,我可能会重新考虑\":马里兰州 COVID-19 大流行期间寻求堕胎护理的经历。","authors":"Jessica L Dozier, Anne E Burke, Hayley V McMahon, Blair O. Berger, Madeline Quasebarth, Carolyn Sufrin, Suzanne O Bell","doi":"10.1111/psrh.12265","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"OBJECTIVE\nTo understand the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on abortion care-seeking in Maryland, a state with Medicaid coverage for abortion, high service availability, and laws supporting abortion rights.\n\n\nMETHODS\nWe conducted semi-structured telephone interviews with 15 women who had an abortion between January 2021 and March 2022 at a hospital-based clinic in a mid-sized Maryland city. We purposively recruited participants with varied pandemic financial impacts. Interview questions prompted participants to reflect on how the pandemic affected their lives, pregnancy decisions, and experiences seeking abortion care. We analyzed our data for themes.\n\n\nRESULTS\nAll participants had some insurance coverage for their abortion; over half paid using Medicaid. Many participants experienced pandemic financial hardship, with several reporting job, food, and housing insecurity as circumstances influencing their decision to have an abortion. Most women who self-reported minimal financial hardship caused by the pandemic indicated they sought an abortion for reasons unrelated to COVID-19. In contrast, women with economic hardship viewed their pregnancies as unsupportable due to COVID-19 exacerbating financial instability, even when they desired to continue the pregnancy. All participants expressed that having an abortion was the best decision for their lives. Yet, when making decisions about their pregnancy, the most financially disadvantaged women weighed their desires against the pandemic's constraints on their reproductive self-determination.\n\n\nCONCLUSIONS\nThe pandemic changed abortion care-seeking circumstances even in a setting with minimal access barriers. Financial hardship influenced some women to have an abortion for a pregnancy that-while unplanned-they may have preferred to continue.","PeriodicalId":47632,"journal":{"name":"Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.4000,"publicationDate":"2024-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"\\\"Maybe if we weren't in the pandemic, I would have reconsidered\\\": Experiences of abortion care-seeking during the COVID-19 pandemic in Maryland.\",\"authors\":\"Jessica L Dozier, Anne E Burke, Hayley V McMahon, Blair O. Berger, Madeline Quasebarth, Carolyn Sufrin, Suzanne O Bell\",\"doi\":\"10.1111/psrh.12265\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"OBJECTIVE\\nTo understand the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on abortion care-seeking in Maryland, a state with Medicaid coverage for abortion, high service availability, and laws supporting abortion rights.\\n\\n\\nMETHODS\\nWe conducted semi-structured telephone interviews with 15 women who had an abortion between January 2021 and March 2022 at a hospital-based clinic in a mid-sized Maryland city. We purposively recruited participants with varied pandemic financial impacts. Interview questions prompted participants to reflect on how the pandemic affected their lives, pregnancy decisions, and experiences seeking abortion care. We analyzed our data for themes.\\n\\n\\nRESULTS\\nAll participants had some insurance coverage for their abortion; over half paid using Medicaid. Many participants experienced pandemic financial hardship, with several reporting job, food, and housing insecurity as circumstances influencing their decision to have an abortion. Most women who self-reported minimal financial hardship caused by the pandemic indicated they sought an abortion for reasons unrelated to COVID-19. In contrast, women with economic hardship viewed their pregnancies as unsupportable due to COVID-19 exacerbating financial instability, even when they desired to continue the pregnancy. All participants expressed that having an abortion was the best decision for their lives. Yet, when making decisions about their pregnancy, the most financially disadvantaged women weighed their desires against the pandemic's constraints on their reproductive self-determination.\\n\\n\\nCONCLUSIONS\\nThe pandemic changed abortion care-seeking circumstances even in a setting with minimal access barriers. Financial hardship influenced some women to have an abortion for a pregnancy that-while unplanned-they may have preferred to continue.\",\"PeriodicalId\":47632,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health\",\"volume\":null,\"pages\":null},\"PeriodicalIF\":3.4000,\"publicationDate\":\"2024-04-24\",\"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.12265\",\"RegionNum\":2,\"RegionCategory\":\"医学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q1\",\"JCRName\":\"DEMOGRAPHY\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1111/psrh.12265","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"DEMOGRAPHY","Score":null,"Total":0}
"Maybe if we weren't in the pandemic, I would have reconsidered": Experiences of abortion care-seeking during the COVID-19 pandemic in Maryland.
OBJECTIVE
To understand the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on abortion care-seeking in Maryland, a state with Medicaid coverage for abortion, high service availability, and laws supporting abortion rights.
METHODS
We conducted semi-structured telephone interviews with 15 women who had an abortion between January 2021 and March 2022 at a hospital-based clinic in a mid-sized Maryland city. We purposively recruited participants with varied pandemic financial impacts. Interview questions prompted participants to reflect on how the pandemic affected their lives, pregnancy decisions, and experiences seeking abortion care. We analyzed our data for themes.
RESULTS
All participants had some insurance coverage for their abortion; over half paid using Medicaid. Many participants experienced pandemic financial hardship, with several reporting job, food, and housing insecurity as circumstances influencing their decision to have an abortion. Most women who self-reported minimal financial hardship caused by the pandemic indicated they sought an abortion for reasons unrelated to COVID-19. In contrast, women with economic hardship viewed their pregnancies as unsupportable due to COVID-19 exacerbating financial instability, even when they desired to continue the pregnancy. All participants expressed that having an abortion was the best decision for their lives. Yet, when making decisions about their pregnancy, the most financially disadvantaged women weighed their desires against the pandemic's constraints on their reproductive self-determination.
CONCLUSIONS
The pandemic changed abortion care-seeking circumstances even in a setting with minimal access barriers. Financial hardship influenced some women to have an abortion for a pregnancy that-while unplanned-they may have preferred to continue.
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.