Pathways for Intentional Care: Experiencing abortion at-home

• In Event: Open Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 17: Bodies, Embodiment, and Reproductive Politics

Abstract

Medication abortions within a clinical setting accounted for more than 60% of all abortions in the US in 2023. Having a medication abortion at home, whether it be self-managed or under the supervision of a healthcare provider, provides opportunities for people to experience less stigma, feel more autonomous, and avoid certain structural barriers. While there has been increasing research on medication abortion provided through telehealth, few studies have sought to uncover how people conceptualize “care” within the contexts of at-home abortion. In this paper we use conceptual frameworks associated with care to further explore people’s experiences with medication abortion at home. For the purposes of this study, we define abortion care as efforts to support or address a person’s physical, emotional, and social needs which can be done for the self or done for others during an abortion. We argue that telehealth reshapes and broadens abortion care beyond a medical framework both functionally and conceptually.

For this study we interviewed 37 self-identifying cisgender women after they received medication abortion pills and completed an at-home protocol delivered by a midwestern nonprofit telehealth clinic. We found three orientations to care represented in participants’ experiences with at-home abortion; compromised care, accessible care, and (inter)personal care. These categories reflect patient’s desires to craft a certain type of abortion experience based on their perceptions of what kinds of care were possible.

Our work suggests people continue to yearn for emotional support to help ease the pain of a difficult and challenging experience. In this study, the empathetic care and accessibility of one midwestern telehealth provider re-shaped how our participants perceive abortion services. Our work contributes to a larger discussion of telehealth, medication abortion, and pathways for intimacy and connectedness in healthcare.

Authors

• Kelly Marie Ward, University of Wisconsin-Madison

• Corinne Marie Hale