Even before the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in June 2022, many pregnant people in America faced significant challenges in accessing abortions. A new study in Contraception: X suggests that obstacles to abortion services, which have become even more prevalent in the post-Dobbs context, have adverse mental health impacts on those seeking care. PhD candidate Ortal Wasser led the study, which was co-authored by colleagues from Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) at the University of California, San Francisco.
In 2019, ANSIRH surveyed 784 people ages 15-45 who were accessing abortion care in four clinics in states that support abortion. Three in five participants said they had experienced delay-causing obstacles to care, which were related to cost, access, and/or travel time.
Ortal’s quantitative analysis found that experiencing any type of delay-causing obstacle to abortion care was significantly associated with more symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression, and higher risk of anxiety and depressive disorders at the time of the abortion appointment. She also found that participants were more likely to experience such obstacles if they traveled from another state or over 100 miles to reach the clinic, sought their abortion beyond 13 weeks gestation, lacked money for unexpected expenses or found it difficult to pay for the abortion.
“As pregnant individuals struggle with accessing the healthcare they need and are forced to navigate complex legal risks and longer distances to reach these time-sensitive services,” wrote Ortal and colleagues, “the accompanying psychological symptoms may intensify, potentially leading to further harm.”
Through her scholarship, Ortal aims to influence abortion policy. “My colleagues and I hope these research findings, along with other studies we are working on, will support policy efforts aimed at reducing the substantial burden experienced by people seeking abortion care,” she said.
The article, titled “Experiences of delay-causing obstacles and mental health at the time of abortion seeking” is part of Ortal’s dissertation. It is available online first with open access.
