“We were cast aside”: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of abortion journeys from Ireland

Abstract

Between 1983 and 2018, approximately 170,000 people journeyed abroad to access abortions outside Ireland due to Ireland having one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the world. This paper analyses the lived experience of people who made such journeys, contributing to the literature on restricted abortion access and forced abortion travel. Six in-depth interviews were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Three master themes were developed. Master Theme 1 speaks to the burden of concealing the experience, and the fear of being discovered and punished that drove the concealment. Master Theme 2 gives insight into overlapping and interwoven challenges of having to leave one's country to access abortion services: lack of access to information, financial burdens, being forced to remain pregnant after making the decision to end that pregnancy, and the impact of all of this against the backdrop of the crisis of unwanted pregnancy. Master Theme 3 speaks to the processing and meaning-making of the journey; how coming into contact with others who had similar stories informed a more compassionate lens on their own stories, and inspired participants, to varying degrees, to become active in the struggle to make Ireland's abortion legislation less restrictive.