TY - JOUR
T1 - Self-induction of abortion among women in the United States
AU - Grossman, Daniel
AU - Holt, Kelsey
AU - Peña, Melanie
AU - Lara, Diana
AU - Veatch, Maggie
AU - Córdova, Denisse
AU - Gold, Marji
AU - Winikoff, Beverly
AU - Blanchard, Kelly
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was funded by grants from the Society of Family Planning, Wallace A Gerbode Foundation, David and Lucille Packard Foundation, Mary Wohlford Foundation, and an anonymous donor. A version of the paper was presented at the annual meetings of the American Public Health Association, 9 November 2009, and the Society for Applied Anthropology, 24 March 2010. We would like to thank Signy Judd and Liza Fuentes, who helped design and carry out the study, as well as our interviewers: Alma Avila Pilchman, Monti Castañeda, Cecilia Marquez, Erica Seppala, Silvia Patricia Solis, and Margarita Velasco. We also thank Christine Dehlendorf, Nilda Moreno, and Lynn Borgatta, and the clinic staff who helped coordinate the study at each site.
PY - 2010/11
Y1 - 2010/11
N2 - Recent media coverage and case reports have highlighted women's attempts to end their pregnancies by self-inducing abortions in the United States. This study explored women's motivations for attempting self-induction of abortion. We surveyed women in clinic waiting rooms in Boston, San Francisco, New York, and a city in Texas to identify women who had attempted self-induction. We conducted 30 in-depth interviews and inductively analyzed the data. Median age at time of self-induction attempt was 19 years. Between 1979 and 2008, the women used a variety of methods, including medications, malta beverage, herbs, physical manipulation and, increasingly, misoprostol. Reasons to self-induce included a desire to avoid abortion clinics, obstacles to accessing clinical services, especially due to young age and financial barriers, and a preference for self-induction. The methods used were generally readily accessible but mostly ineffective and occasionally unsafe. Of the 23 with confirmed pregnancies, three reported a successful abortion not requiring clinical care. Only one reported medical complications in the United States. Most would not self-induce again and recommended clinic-based services. Efforts should be made to inform women about and improve access to clinic-based abortion services, particularly for medical abortion, which may appeal to women who are drawn to self-induction because it is natural, non-invasive and private.
AB - Recent media coverage and case reports have highlighted women's attempts to end their pregnancies by self-inducing abortions in the United States. This study explored women's motivations for attempting self-induction of abortion. We surveyed women in clinic waiting rooms in Boston, San Francisco, New York, and a city in Texas to identify women who had attempted self-induction. We conducted 30 in-depth interviews and inductively analyzed the data. Median age at time of self-induction attempt was 19 years. Between 1979 and 2008, the women used a variety of methods, including medications, malta beverage, herbs, physical manipulation and, increasingly, misoprostol. Reasons to self-induce included a desire to avoid abortion clinics, obstacles to accessing clinical services, especially due to young age and financial barriers, and a preference for self-induction. The methods used were generally readily accessible but mostly ineffective and occasionally unsafe. Of the 23 with confirmed pregnancies, three reported a successful abortion not requiring clinical care. Only one reported medical complications in the United States. Most would not self-induce again and recommended clinic-based services. Efforts should be made to inform women about and improve access to clinic-based abortion services, particularly for medical abortion, which may appeal to women who are drawn to self-induction because it is natural, non-invasive and private.
KW - Adolescents and young people
KW - Medical abortion
KW - Misoprostol
KW - Self-induced abortion
KW - United States
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U2 - 10.1016/S0968-8080(10)36534-7
DO - 10.1016/S0968-8080(10)36534-7
M3 - Article
C2 - 21111358
AN - SCOPUS:78649406517
SN - 0968-8080
VL - 18
SP - 136
EP - 146
JO - Reproductive Health Matters
JF - Reproductive Health Matters
IS - 36
ER -