Predictors of abortion counseling receipt and helpfulness in the United States

Little is known about women's expectations, needs, and experiences with abortion counseling and the factors that influence their experiences.

This study sought to investigate individual- and facility-level factors that influenced women's reports of receiving abortion counseling and the helpfulness of counseling. Data were drawn from quantitative interviews with 718 patients recruited from 30 abortion facilities, and 27 interviews with facility informants in the United States.

Sixty-eight percent of participants reported receiving counseling; reports varied by facility. Almost all participants who reported receiving counseling described counseling as helpful: 40% extremely, 28% quite, 17% moderately, 10% a little, and 4% not at all. Nearly all (99%) reported that their counselor communicated support for whatever decision they made. No individual-level factors predicted counseling receipt or helpfulness. Facility informant reports that it is their role to counsel patients about emotional issues was positively associated with women's reports of counseling receipt (p < .001). Women at facilities subject to laws requiring provision of specific information and/or state-approved, written materials had lesser odds of finding counseling helpful, compared with women at facilities not subject to such laws (p < .01).

Legal mandates that regulate abortion counseling do not seem to be helpful to women. More research is needed to understand the effects of abortion counseling and whether policies regulating counseling have a deleterious effect on women.