Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Dec:128:110139.
doi: 10.1016/j.contraception.2023.110139. Epub 2023 Aug 30.

Recruiting pregnant people considering abortion: An analysis of differences in participant characteristics by recruitment site across online, abortion fund, and clinic-based sources

Heidi Moseson  1 , Alexandra Wollum  2 , Bria Goode  2 , Caitlin McKenna  2 , Tracey Wilkinson  3
Affiliations

Recruiting pregnant people considering abortion: An analysis of differences in participant characteristics by recruitment site across online, abortion fund, and clinic-based sources

Heidi Moseson et al. Contraception. 2023 Dec.

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate differences by recruitment method in the characteristics of participants who are considering abortion.

Study design: Between June 2021 and April 2022, we recruited pregnant people considering abortion in Indiana from (1) online posts, (2) abortion funds, and (3) abortion clinics. We compared participant characteristics reported in an online survey by recruitment source.

Results: Compared to those recruited from clinics (n = 94), participants recruited online (n = 84) and through abortion funds (n = 239) were later in their pregnancy, were already parenting, received less formal education, struggled financially, and were more likely to be Black or African American, queer, transgender, or nonbinary.

Conclusions: Recruitment from online sources and abortion funds reaches more people who face greater barriers to abortion care than recruitment from clinics.

Implications: Augmenting clinic-based recruitment with online and abortion fund recruitment could capture a more complete sample of people considering abortion.

Keywords: Abortion; Abortion funds; Google Ads; Recruitment; Research methods; Selection bias.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Screening and recruitment of research participants for a study of abortion access in Indiana in 2021–2022.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Upadhyay UD, Cartwright AF, Grossman D. Barriers to abortion care and incidence of attempted self-managed abortion among individuals searching Google for abortion care: A national prospective study. Contraception. 2022;106:49–56. - PubMed
    1. Moseson H, Seymour JW, Zuniga C, Wollum A, Katz A, Thompson TA, et al. “It just seemed like a perfect storm”: A multi-methods feasibility study on the use of Facebook, Google Ads, and Reddit to collect data on abortion-seeking experiences from people who considered but did not obtain abortion care in the United States. PLoS One. 2022;17(3):e0264748. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Roberts SCM, Kimport K, Kriz R, Holl J, Mark K, Williams V. Consideration of and Reasons for Not Obtaining Abortion Among Women Entering Prenatal Care in Southern Louisiana and Baltimore, Maryland. Sexuality Research and Social Policy. 2018;16(4):476–87.
    1. State Abortion Policy Landscape: From Hostile to Supportive. New York, NY: Guttmacher Institute; 2019.
    1. Moseson H, Smith MH, Chakraborty P, Gyuras HJ, Foster A, Bessett D, et al. Abortion-Related Laws and Concurrent Patterns in Abortion Incidence in Indiana, 2010–2019. Am J Public Health. 2023;113(4):429–37. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types