Abstract
Background
Little is known about women's expectations, needs, and experiences with abortion counseling
and the factors that influence their experiences.
Methods
This study sought to investigate individual- and facility-level factors that influenced
women's reports of receiving abortion counseling and the helpfulness of counseling.
Data were drawn from quantitative interviews with 718 patients recruited from 30 abortion
facilities, and 27 interviews with facility informants in the United States.
Findings
Sixty-eight percent of participants reported receiving counseling; reports varied
by facility. Almost all participants who reported receiving counseling described counseling
as helpful: 40% extremely, 28% quite, 17% moderately, 10% a little, and 4% not at
all. Nearly all (99%) reported that their counselor communicated support for whatever
decision they made. No individual-level factors predicted counseling receipt or helpfulness.
Facility informant reports that it is their role to counsel patients about emotional
issues was positively associated with women's reports of counseling receipt (p < .001). Women at facilities subject to laws requiring provision of specific information
and/or state-approved, written materials had lesser odds of finding counseling helpful,
compared with women at facilities not subject to such laws (p < .01).
Conclusions
Legal mandates that regulate abortion counseling do not seem to be helpful to women.
More research is needed to understand the effects of abortion counseling and whether
policies regulating counseling have a deleterious effect on women.
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Biography
Heather Gould, MPH, is research coordinator for the Turnaway Study and several related studies at ANSIRH. She is interested in women's reproductive health outcomes related to unintended pregnancy, abortion and childbirth, as well as their experiences accessing and receiving health services.
Biography
Diana Greene Foster, PhD, is a demographer who uses quantitative models and analyses to evaluate the effectiveness of family planning policies and the effect of unintended pregnancy on women's lives. She is the Principal Investigator of the Turnaway Study.
Biography
Alissa C. Perrucci, PhD, MPH, is the Counseling & Administrative Manager at the Women's Options Center at San Francisco General Hospital. Her book Decision Assessment and Counseling in Abortion Care: Philosophy and Practice was published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2012.
Biography
Rana E. Barar, MPH, is the project director for the Turnaway Study and several other abortion- and family planning-related studies.
Biography
Sarah C.M. Roberts, DrPH, is a public health social scientist. She studies policy and social determinants of women's health, with a focus on alcohol and drug use in the context of pregnancy, parenting, and reproductive health.
Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
May 20,
2013
Received in revised form:
May 17,
2013
Received:
March 6,
2013
Identification
Copyright
© 2013 Jacobs Institute of Women's Health. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
