Family Physicians' Barriers and Facilitators in Incorporating Medication Abortion

Article Figures & Data

Table 1.

Participants' Characteristics and Abortion Experience (n = 48)

	n (%)
New career family physician	41 (85.4)
Thought leader	7 (14.6)
Gender^*
Female	39 (81.3)
Male	9 (18.8)
Race^†
Asian	8 (16.7)
Black or African American	4 (8.3)
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	1 (2.1)
White	31 (64.6)
Other	4 (8.3)
Ethnicity
Hispanic or Latino/a/x	2 (4.2)
Non-Hispanic or Non-Latino/a/x	46 (95.8)
Age (years)
≤30	1 (2.1)
31 to 40	38 (79.2)
41 to 50	4 (8.3)
51 to 60	4 (8.3)
>60	1 (2.1)
Regions of the US^‡
West	21 (43.8)
South	10 (20.8)
Midwest	5 (10.4)
Northeast	12 (25.0)
State Abortion Policy Landscape^§
Hostile	16 (33.3)
Neutral	3 (6.3)
Supportive	27 (56.3)
N/A	2 (4.2)
Approximate distance between physician's clinical setting and nearest abortion clinic^‖ (miles)
<5	30 (62.5)
5 to 25	9 (18.8)
26 to 50	4 (8.3)
>50	4 (8.3)
Unknown	1 (2.1)
Abortion Training
Aspiration and medication abortion	34 (70.8)
Only aspiration abortion	2 (4.2)
Only medication abortion	1 (2.1)
Neither aspiration or medication abortion	11 (22.9)
Abortion services provided since graduating residency
Aspiration and medication abortion	16 (33.3)
Only aspiration abortion	0
Only medication abortion	5 (10.4)
Neither aspiration nor medication abortion	27 (56.3)
Current medication abortion provision
Currently provides medication abortion	17 (35.4)
Does not currently provide medication abortion	31 (64.6)
Setting of current abortion provision
Primary care	5 (10.4)
Reproductive health clinic	10 (20.8)
Primary care and reproductive health clinic	2 (4.2)
N/A (Does not provide abortion care)	31 (64.6)

↵* In the pre-interview survey physicians were asked the following question: “Which of the following best describes your gender?” The options include: (female, male, transgender male, transgender female, nonbinary, gender fluid, something not listed here.).
↵† Participants were able to select more than one category.
↵‡ U.S. Census Bureau, Census Regions and Divisions of the United States, 2013.
↵§ Nash E, State Abortion Policy Landscape: From Hostile to Supportive, Guttmacher Institute, 2019. State categories were based on laws in effect as of July 1, 2020. N/A refers to areas where a state policy landscape was not available.
↵‖ ANSIRH, Abortion Facility Database, University of California, San Francisco, 2019. Distance was calculated using the zip code of the clinic where the physician works and the address of the closest clinic that offers abortion care in the ANSIRH Facility Database. If a physician works at multiple sites, the zip code of the furthest clinic from an abortion clinic was used.