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

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 servic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 18; no. 7; p. 3813
Main Authors:	Rice, Whitney S, Labgold, Katie, Peterson, Quita Tinsley, Higdon, Megan, Njoku, Oriaku
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Switzerland MDPI AG 06-04-2021 MDPI
Subjects:	Abortion Abortion, Induced Alabama Case management Child Female Financial Management Florida Georgia Gestation Gestational age Grass roots movement Health care access Humans Insurance coverage Maternal & child health Medicaid Mississippi Out of pocket costs Pregnancy Quality control Reproduction Reproductive health Sociodemographics South Carolina Tennessee United States Womens health Mississippi United States Tennessee Georgia Alabama Florida South Carolina Louisiana United States > US family planning abortion sexual and reproductive health pregnancy U.S. state laws reproductive justice access to health policy pregnancy termination
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Summary:	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 ( = 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.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	1660-4601 1661-7827 1660-4601
DOI:	10.3390/ijerph18073813