An exploratory study of what happens to women who are denied abortions in Cape Town, South Africa

dc.contributor.authorHarries, Jane
dc.contributor.authorGerdts, Caitlin
dc.contributor.authorMomberg, Mariette
dc.contributor.authorGreene Foster, Diana
dc.coverage.spatialSouth Africa--Cape Townen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-04-07T15:33:28Z
dc.date.available2015-04-07T15:33:28Z
dc.date.issued2015-03-21
dc.date.updated2015-03-23T19:03:13Z
dc.description.abstractBackground: Despite the change in legal status of abortion in South Africa in 1996, barriers to access remain. Stigma associated with abortion provision and care, privacy concerns, and negative provider attitudes often discourage women from seeking legal abortion services and sometimes force women outside of the legal system. What happens when women present for abortion at a designated abortion facility and are denied abortions due to gestational limits or other factors–is unknown. Whether women seek care at referral facilities, seek illegal abortion, or carry pregnancies to term has never been documented. This study, part of a multi-country Global Turnaway Study, explored the experiences of women after denial of legal abortion services. Methods: Qualitative research methods were used to collect data at two non-governmental organization health care facilities providing abortion services. In depth interviews were held with women 2 to 3 months after they were denied an abortion. Data were analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. Results: The most common reason for being turned away was due to gestational age over 12 weeks with some women denied abortions that day because they did not have enough money to pay for the procedure. Almost all women were extremely upset at being denied an abortion on the day that they visited the health care facility. Some women were so distressed that they openly discussed the option of seeking an illegal provider or exploring the possibility of securing another health care professional who would assist them. Conclusions: Despite South Africa’s liberal abortion law and the relatively widespread availability of abortion services in urban settings, women in South Africa are denied abortion services largely due to being beyond the legal limits to obtain an abortion. A high proportion of women who were initially denied an abortion at legal facilities went on to seek options for pregnancy termination outside of the legal system through internet searches--some of which could have led to unsafe abortion practices. Further efforts should be directed towards informing women in all communities about the availability of free services in the public sector and educating them about the dangers of unsafe methods of pregnancy termination.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationHarries, J., Gerdts, C., Momberg, M., & Greene Foster, D. (2015). An exploratory study of what happens to women who are denied abortions in Cape Town, South Africa. <i>Reproductive Health</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12683en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationHarries, Jane, Caitlin Gerdts, Mariette Momberg, and Diana Greene Foster "An exploratory study of what happens to women who are denied abortions in Cape Town, South Africa." <i>Reproductive Health</i> (2015) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12683en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationHarries, Jane; Gerdts, Caitlin; Momberg, Mariette and Greene Foster, Diana (2015) An exploratory study of what happens to women who are denied abortions in Cape Town, South Africa. Reproductive Health. 12(1):21-27.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Harries, Jane AU - Gerdts, Caitlin AU - Momberg, Mariette AU - Greene Foster, Diana AB - Background: Despite the change in legal status of abortion in South Africa in 1996, barriers to access remain. Stigma associated with abortion provision and care, privacy concerns, and negative provider attitudes often discourage women from seeking legal abortion services and sometimes force women outside of the legal system. What happens when women present for abortion at a designated abortion facility and are denied abortions due to gestational limits or other factors–is unknown. Whether women seek care at referral facilities, seek illegal abortion, or carry pregnancies to term has never been documented. This study, part of a multi-country Global Turnaway Study, explored the experiences of women after denial of legal abortion services. Methods: Qualitative research methods were used to collect data at two non-governmental organization health care facilities providing abortion services. In depth interviews were held with women 2 to 3 months after they were denied an abortion. Data were analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. Results: The most common reason for being turned away was due to gestational age over 12 weeks with some women denied abortions that day because they did not have enough money to pay for the procedure. Almost all women were extremely upset at being denied an abortion on the day that they visited the health care facility. Some women were so distressed that they openly discussed the option of seeking an illegal provider or exploring the possibility of securing another health care professional who would assist them. Conclusions: Despite South Africa’s liberal abortion law and the relatively widespread availability of abortion services in urban settings, women in South Africa are denied abortion services largely due to being beyond the legal limits to obtain an abortion. A high proportion of women who were initially denied an abortion at legal facilities went on to seek options for pregnancy termination outside of the legal system through internet searches--some of which could have led to unsafe abortion practices. Further efforts should be directed towards informing women in all communities about the availability of free services in the public sector and educating them about the dangers of unsafe methods of pregnancy termination. DA - 2015-03-21 DB - OpenUCT DO - 10.1186/s12978-015-0014-y DP - University of Cape Town J1 - Reproductive Health LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2015 T1 - An exploratory study of what happens to women who are denied abortions in Cape Town, South Africa TI - An exploratory study of what happens to women who are denied abortions in Cape Town, South Africa UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12683 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/12683
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12978-015-0014-y
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationHarries J, Gerdts C, Momberg M, Greene Foster D. An exploratory study of what happens to women who are denied abortions in Cape Town, South Africa. Reproductive Health. 2015; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12683.en_ZA
dc.language.rfc3066en
dc.publisherBioMed Centralen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentWomen's Health Research Uniten_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Health Sciencesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)*
dc.rights.holderHarries et al.; licensee BioMed Central.
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en_ZA
dc.sourceReproductive Healthen_ZA
dc.source.urihttp://www.reproductive-health-journal.com/
dc.subject.lcshAbortionen_ZA
dc.titleAn exploratory study of what happens to women who are denied abortions in Cape Town, South Africaen_ZA
dc.typeJournal Articleen_ZA
uct.type.filetype
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
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