Access to Formal Abortion Services and Demand for Medical Abortion in
Turkey: A mixed-method study
Abstract
Objective: To analyse perceived barriers to access to formal abortion
services and the demand for medical abortion in Turkey Design:
Mixed-method study Population sample: Pregnant women in Turkey who
filled the consultation survey on Women on Web website between 1 January
2013 and 12 October 2020 Method: Our dataset includes anonymized
responses of 620 women to the online consultation survey and anonymized
email correspondences of 138 women with the WoW help desk. We conducted
a cross-sectional analysis of the survey data and a content analysis of
email correspondences. Main outcome measures: Perceived barriers to
formal abortion services in Turkey Results: The surveyors listed various
reasons for requesting an abortion; while 59.68% of them mentioned that
they just cannot have a child at this point, financial constraints
(49.84%), wanting to finish school (31.77%) and being too young
(31.29%) were among the leading reasons. Several barriers to access to
formal abortion services were reported; the most frequently cited
barriers include cost (48.31%), the need to keep abortion secret from
partner or family (42.69%) and unavailability of abortion pills
(44.94%). Our qualitative analysis of women’s email correspondences has
demonstrated some additional barriers to and concerns over the formal
abortion services. These include censorship of abortion information and
misinformation, denial of care, concerns over spousal consent, cost,
abortion method, trust, and confidentiality. Conclusions: We conclude
that despite the legal framework, abortion remains difficult to access
and approach for women in Turkey due to legal barriers and concerns over
formal abortion services.