Effect of abortion protesters on women's emotional response to abortion

BackgroundLittle is known about women's experiences with and reactions to protesters and how protesters affect women's emotional responses to abortion.Study DesignWe interviewed 956 women seeking abortion between 2008 and 2010 at 30 US abortion care facilities and informants from 27 of these facilities.ResultsMost facilities reported a regular protester presence; one third identified protesters as aggressive towards patients. Nearly half (46%) of women interviewed saw protesters; of those, 25% reported being “a little” upset, and 16% reported being “quite a lot” or “extremely” upset. Women who had difficulty deciding to abort had higher odds of reporting being upset by protesters. In multivariable models, exposure to protesters was not associated with differences in emotions 1 week after the abortion.ConclusionProtesters do upset some women seeking abortion services. However, exposure to protesters does not seem to have an effect on women's emotions about the abortion 1 week later.