Differences in financial and social burdens experienced by patients traveling for abortion care
Abortion
Awarded 2019
Complex Family Planning Fellowship Research
Amy Addante, MD
Washington University
$15,000

The growing number of abortion restrictions has resulted in significant variation in the availability and accessibility of abortion care in the United States. As a result, many patients are traveling further distances to obtain an abortion. The primary objective of our study was to examine perceived stress levels in patients by distance traveled to the clinic. Our secondary objectives were to compare perceived individual-level stigma and hardship scores in patients by distance traveled to the clinic. We hypothesized that patients traveling further distances would report higher perceived stress, stigma, and hardship at the time of their abortion compared to patients traveling shorter distances.