[Barriers to accessing abortion care: an analysis from the perspective of unintended pregnant women-findings from the ELSA study].

Introduction: Barriers to accessing abortion care can delay access to services, which can lead to delayed abortion and health risks. Barriers include geographical accessibility, confidentiality, waiting times, stigmatization, poor or inaccessible information and the cost of abortion. This article examines barriers to accessing abortion care in Germany. This includes barriers in the availability and accessibility of care services, access to information, costs associated with abortion and organisational barriers.

Methods: The analyses are based on data from an online cross-sectional survey of 594 women in Germany who had an unwanted pregnancy terminated, which was conducted as part of the ELSA Study in 2021 and 2022.

Results: The findings indicate that access to abortion care in Germany is associated with various barriers for many women. Of the respondents, 80.1% reported at least one barrier to accessing abortion, 65.5% reported more than two barriers and 40.5% reported three or more barriers. In particular, the non-disclosure of the procedure and the associated fear of stigmatisation represented hurdles for many participants.

Discussion and conclusion: The results of the study underline the need to improve access to safe abortions. Reducing access barriers therefore includes the decriminalisation of abortion, a comprehensive care structure, financial support services, improved information services and the reduction of stigmatisation and discrimination.