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. 2025 Jan-Dec:62:469580251351192.
doi: 10.1177/00469580251351192. Epub 2025 Jun 27.

Behavioral Innovations to Access Abortion Post-Dobbs: A Qualitative Thematic Analysis of Reddit's r/abortion Community in 2022

Eliza Dolgins  1 , Lindsay Parham  1 , Karen Weidert  1 , Emma Anderson  1 , Coye Cheshire  1 , Ndola Prata  1 , Elizabeth Pleasants  1   2
Affiliations

Behavioral Innovations to Access Abortion Post-Dobbs: A Qualitative Thematic Analysis of Reddit's r/abortion Community in 2022

Eliza Dolgins et al. Inquiry. 2025 Jan-Dec.

Abstract

Following the leak of the Dobbs decision in 2022, abortion access in the United States has faced heightened barriers, including legal restrictions, financial constraints, and logistical challenges. In response, individuals seeking abortion care can employ innovative behavioral strategies to overcome these barriers and reshape their abortion experiences (ie, "behavioral innovations"). This paper explores the behavioral innovations to access abortion that people discussed and recommended within a geographically dispersed community of peers on an abortion-supportive Reddit community (r/abortion). Using a hybrid inductive and deductive thematic qualitative analysis approach with a purposive sample of comments in the r/abortion community in 2022 following the Dobbs leak (May-December, n = 131 comments), we identified discussion of abortion access innovations related to getting in-clinic care, self-managed abortion (SMA), funding assistance, privacy, and emotional support. Innovations included sharing online resources for clinic locations, specific travel recommendations to less restrictive states, accessing abortion medications through online services, and navigating the SMA process. Additionally, other less tangible innovations were discussed, including strategies for keeping abortions private and seeking emotional support. Our findings highlight how individuals within the r/abortion community discuss and share creative strategies for navigating the evolving barriers to abortion care. The r/abortion platform serves as a crucial resource for individuals seeking innovative solutions to these barriers, underscoring the need for diverse information-sharing practices to improve access to care as shifting legislation increasingly demands approaches beyond conventional norms.

Keywords: Reddit; United States; abortion; barriers to abortion access; behavioral innovations; post-Dobbs.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Conceptual framework outlining types of innovations shared in r/abortion comments by abortion modality.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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