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. 2021 Apr 6;18(7):3813.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph18073813.

Sociodemographic and Service Use Characteristics of Abortion Fund Cases from Six States in the U.S. Southeast

Whitney S Rice  1   2 , Katie Labgold  2   3 , Quita Tinsley Peterson  4 , Megan Higdon  5 , Oriaku Njoku  4
Affiliations

Sociodemographic and Service Use Characteristics of Abortion Fund Cases from Six States in the U.S. Southeast

Whitney S Rice et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Abortion funds are key actors in mitigating barriers to abortion access, particularly in contexts where state-level abortion access restrictions are concentrated. Using 2017-2019 case management data from a regional abortion fund in the southeastern U.S., we described the sociodemographic and service use characteristics of cases overall (n = 9585) and stratified by state of residence (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee). Overall, cases represented people seeking abortion fund assistance who predominately identified as non-Hispanic Black (81%), 18-34 years of age (84%), publicly or uninsured (87%), having completed a high school degree or some college (70%), having one or more children (77%), and as Christian (58%). Most cases involved an in-state clinic (81%), clinic travel distance under 50 miles (63%), surgical abortion (66%), and pregnancy under 13 weeks' gestation (73%), with variation across states. The median abortion fund contribution pledge was $75 (interquartile range (IQR): 60-100), supplementing median caller contributions of $200 (IQR: 40-300). These data provide a unique snapshot of a population navigating disproportionate, intersecting barriers to abortion access, and abortion fund capacity for social care and science. Findings can inform abortion fund development, data quality improvement efforts, as well as reproductive health, rights and justice advocacy, policy, and research.

Keywords: U.S. state laws; abortion; access to health; family planning; policy; pregnancy; pregnancy termination; reproductive justice; sexual and reproductive health.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Variation in gestational age at appointment by state of residence for cases representing callers residing in the six southeastern states where ARC-Southeast provides assistance, 1 January 2017 through 31 December 2019.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Percentage of missing data for sociodemographic and support characteristics for cases representing callers residing in the six southeastern states where Access Reproductive Care (ARC)-Southeast provides assistance, 1 January 2017 through 31 December 2019.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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