Experiences of women accessing an abortion clinic confronted by religiously motivated demonstrators: a pilot study

Abstract

Objectives: Although abortion is legal in Austria, women are frequently confronted by religiously motivated demonstrators when accessing an abortion. The current study assessed women’s experiences in this situation.

Methods: Between 2006 and 2010, data were collected from women seeking an abortion who had been approached by demonstrators in front of an abortion clinic. A qualitative content method, descriptive statistics and formal regression analysis were used to examine the data.

Results: Participants comprised 98 women, aged 12–47 years. Overall, 91% said their decision was not influenced by the demonstrators, 17% reported feeling threatened, and 93% supported a legal ban on what they perceived as harassment.

Conclusion: The demonstrators’ behaviour did not influence or change the women’s abortion decision. The women reported the activists’ behaviour as harassment. Further, the vast majority would support enhanced legal protection for women entering an abortion clinic, to minimise the psychological and physical stress. Future research should explore how such bans could support women and improve their experience at the time of abortion.

摘要

目的：虽然堕胎在奥地利是合法的, 但妇女在接受堕胎时经常面临宗教动机的示威者。此研究评估了女性在这种情况下的经历。

方法：在2006年至2010年期间, 收集了在堕胎诊所里经历与示威者接触的寻求堕胎的妇女的数据。使用定性内容方法, 描述性统计和形式回归分析来检查数据。

结果：参与者包括98名年龄在12-47岁之间的女性。总体而言, 有91％的人表示他们的决定不受示威者的影响, 有17％的人表示感到受到威胁, 还有93％的人支持他们认为是骚扰行为的法律禁令。

结论：示威者的行为并未影响或改变妇女的堕胎决定。这些妇女报告说活动主义者的行为是骚扰。此外, 绝大多数人将支持加强对进入堕胎诊所的妇女的法律保护, 以尽量减少心理和身体压力。未来的研究应该探讨这种禁令如何支持妇女并改善她们在堕胎时的经历。

Keywords:

• Abortion
• abortion access
• abortion protesters
• emotions about abortion
• religiously motivated demonstrator
• women’s experiences

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).