Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Apr 12, 2025
Open Peer Review Period: Apr 13, 2025 - Jun 8, 2025
Date Accepted: Sep 30, 2025
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Exploring the Motivations and the Concerns behind Self-Managed Medication Abortion done by Purchasing Medication Online: A Qualitative Interview Study with U.S. Abortion Seekers Post-Roe
ABSTRACT
Background:
As restrictive abortion laws continue to emerge in various states of the United States, pregnant individuals are turning to alternative channels to seek abortion medication, one of which is engaging in self-managed medication abortion, outsourcing the medicines from online websites without any medical prescriptions.
Objective:
This study explores the phenomenon of self-managed abortion outsourcing medication online by focusing mainly on the motivational factors and concerns behind such a decision and the abortion seekers' journey throughout this process.
Methods:
Through the qualitative analysis of 20 semi-structured interviews with abortion seekers living in the U.S., we have examined the motivations, experiences, and challenges encountered by individuals seeking abortion medication online.
Results:
Our research provides evidence that, although using illicit e-pharmacies can lead to counterfeit medication and health consequences, these platforms create the perception of complete anonymity for pregnant individuals. Hence, they offer a way to find abortion medication detached from pregnant individuals' physical communities, circumventing the stigma associated with seeking an abortion and the socio-cultural consequences of it, leading pregnant individuals to prefer these systems compared to legal options.
Conclusions:
This research uncovers the motivational factors and concerns behind the growing reliance on online tools to outsource the medication necessary for engaging in self-managed abortion.
Citation
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Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.