Young women's experiences of arranging and having abortions

Women (n = 54) aged between 16 and 24 were interviewed between one and three hours after their abortion about their experiences. Overall, having an unwanted pregnancy was experienced as a rare event which was accompanied by feelings of lack of control and loss of status. Further, the process of arranging and having an abortion led to a reinstatement of status, control and normality. However, this process was sometimes hindered by inaccessible information, judgmental health professionals and the wider social context of abortion in which abortion is seen as a generally negative experience. In the main though, most of these negative experiences were associated with accessing the abortion service and the professionals who act as gatekeepers to the service rather than those who work within the service itself. Therefore, although young women's experiences were wide-ranging and varied, most were positive, and at times even negative expectations were compensated by supportive staff, indicating that abortion services may not be as judgmental in the late 20th century as suggested in previous decades.