July 2020

Access to later abortion in the United States during COVID-19: Challenges and recommendations from providers, advocates, and researchers

Ruggiero S, Brandi K, Mark A, Paul M, Reeves M, Schalit O, Blanchard K, Key K, Chandrasekaran S. Access to later abortion in the United States during COVID-19: Challenges and recommendations from providers, advocates, and researchers. Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters. July 2020. 

Access to abortion throughout pregnancy is an important reproductive health, rights, and justice issue. In 2016, 9% of abortions occurred at or beyond 13 weeks of gestation in the United States. Later abortion (abortion after the first trimester) procedures become more complex as pregnancy progresses. Clients seeking later abortion face barriers in accessing care, including high procedure costs, delays in finding a clinic, travelling for care, and logistical challenges in arranging for accommodation and childcare while receiving care. Delays exacerbate financial and logistical challenges as the number of available providers decreases (in 2014, only 25% of US abortion providers offered abortion at 20 weeks, and only 10% at 24 weeks) 3 and procedure costs increase, with gestational age.