Canadian Women's Contemporary Experiences Accessing Abortion

This thesis explores Canadian womens contemporary experiences accessing abortion. Abortion is a womens health issue, yet little nursing research addresses womens experiences or well-documented barriers to care. After Health Canadas approval of the abortion pill, Mifegymiso (RU-486) in 2015, women had an alternative to surgical abortion. This qualitative study uses narrative and critical feminist approaches, and purposive convenience sampling to explore Canadian womens experiences of abortion and access to care. Seven women over the age of 18, diverse in age, education, sexual orientation, geography and experience with medical or surgical abortion completed semi-structured interviews. Critical analysis illustrated the complex, varied meanings that abortion has for women, including the motherhood journey (regardless of whether or not they considered themselves mothers), the pivotal nature of support, and barriers to access. Implications for nursing include challenging the silence in research and augmenting reproductive justice approaches.