Abortion Providers on Politically Engaging Patients

For decades, abortion providers have lamented the lack of patients' voices in the abortion rights movement. Given the millions of women who have received abortions, the absence of this large constituency, providers assert, has been politically costly. Underlying this disappointment is a parallel question that reflects a philosophical divide among abortion providers: are attempts to politically engage abortion patients a desired or appropriate element of care?

We interviewed providers from 14 abortion clinics, representing a range of approaches to care, patient volume, and geographic locations. We transcribed and analyzed the interviews to identify themes related to whether, why, and how providers worked to politically engage their patients.

We found that many respondents limited or avoided political engagement with patients, believing that such efforts interfered with patient care or comfort, were not a priority given limited time, and were not something in which patients were interested. Many participants were unclear as to what political work they could pursue as nonprofit facilities. In contrast, other providers believe political outreach helped patients to more fully understand their care experiences, could influence future patients' access to care, and was an important part of the way they cared for patients.

These varying approaches reflect divergent ways of and reasons for engaging abortion patients politically. Future research should consider if the act of obtaining an abortion could be understood as low-level engagement with the abortion rights movement, particularly as abortion access is increasingly limited and patients might be considered potential activists.