The impact of COVID-19 on abortion access

The impact of COVID-19 on abortion access: Insights from the European Union and the United Kingdom

Bojovic, Neva (KEDGE Business School)
Stanisljevic, Jovana (Grenoble Ecole de Management)
Giunti, Guido (TU Delft Applied Ergonomics and Design; Oulu University)

2021

Government policies on abortion are a longstanding topic of heated political debates. The COVID-19 pandemic shook health systems to the core adding further to the complexity of this topic, as imposed national lockdowns and movement restrictions affected access to timely abortion for millions of women across the globe. In this paper, we examine how countries within the European Union and the United Kingdom responded to challenges brought by the COVID-19 crisis in terms of access to abortion. By combining information from various sources, we have explored different responses according to two dimensions: changes in policy and protocols, and reported difficulties in access. Our analysis shows significant differences across the observed regions and salient debates around abortion. While some countries made efforts to maintain and facilitate abortion care during the pandemic through the introduction or expansion of use of telemedicine and early medical abortion, others attempted to restrict it further. The situation was also diverse in the countries where governments did not change policies or protocols. Based on our data analysis, we provide a framework that can help policy makers improve abortion access.

Abortion
Access
COVID-19
Policy change
Telemedicine

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:10181445-c43d-4015-8ad1-bf557972ad24

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2021.05.005

2022-06-17

0168-8510

Health Policy, 125 (7), 841-858

Accepted Author Manuscript

Institutional Repository

review

© 2021 Neva Bojovic, Jovana Stanisljevic, Guido Giunti