"We've got rights and yet we don't have access": Exploring patient experiences accessing medication abortion in Australia

Abstract

Objectives: Across Australia, multiple strategies have emerged to decentralize abortion care and increase access to mifepristone, including incorporating medication abortion into primary care and offering the mifepristone and misoprostol regimen via telemedicine. We aimed to explore the experiences of patients accessing medication abortion care across these different health service delivery formats and different geographic areas.

Study design: We conducted in-depth interviews with 22 people from across Australia who had used mifepristone for abortion. We audio-recorded and transcribed all interviews and managed our data with ATLAS.ti. We used deductive and inductive techniques to analyze these data for content and themes.

Results: Although participants were generally satisfied with the abortion care they received, many described medication abortion care in Australia as inaccessible and confusing to find. Our participants incurred variable and often significant financial costs when obtaining their abortion and many reported that their interactions with general practitioners when trying to locate an abortion provider were uninformative and stigmatizing. Participants were enthusiastic about obtaining medication abortion through a variety of service delivery modalities, including telemedicine, and believed these strategies could increase equitable and affordable access.

Conclusions: Barriers to finding and accessing abortion care persist across Australia. Efforts to challenge the over-regulation of mifepristone, increase the affordability of medication abortion, and enhance training opportunities to educate a variety of clinicians about medication abortion and support provision from a range of providers appear warranted.

Implications: The continued over regulation of mifepristone creates barriers for incorporating medication abortion into primary care settings and has significant implications for patient access and abortion stigma. Regulatory reform and provider education and training have the potential to improve abortion patients' experiences with medication abortion.

Keywords: Abortion; Health service delivery; Medication abortion; Mifepristone; Primary care; Telemedicine.