Marginalised People's Access to Publicly Funded Abortion in Catalunya

Abstract

Abstract Abortion has been legal in Catalunya for any reason in the first trimester and under a set of qualifying circumstances in the second since 2010 and integrated in the health system. Earlier studies identified disparities in access. Through rapid ethnographic assessment (REA) at a Barcelona clinic, this study sought to compare the findings of an earlier phase of REA previously published in this journal with subsequent data collection to determine continuity or changes in accessibility of publicly funded abortion. A subsequent REA found similarities in average wait times and numbers of visits to obtain the required voucher for a publicly funded abortion. Also persistent were greater delays for migrants. The greatest difference was participants with notably later average gestations when obtaining publicly funded abortions.