An exploration of the experiences of Florida abortion fund service recipients

This article describes a secondary data analysis of a health data set representing the experiences of abortion fund service recipients (ASRs) who received financial assistance to help pay for unaffordable abortion costs. The authors analyzed 3,216 ASR cases from 2001 to 2015. Demographic characteristics, service utilization rates, and the personal hardships reported by the sample were assessed. The personal hardships of the Florida ASRs were compared with the hardships reported by ASRs who received assistance from a national fund. Results indicate that Florida ASRs are primarily people of color who are single, in their mid-20s, already parenting children, and receiving assistance in the second trimester of pregnancy. ASRs in this current study are experiencing multiple personal hardships while trying to access an abortion, including economic hardships (such as lack of insurance coverage and unemployment) and trauma (including rape and partner violence). When compared with the ASRs at the national level, these state-level ASRs reported higher rates of unemployment, partner violence, and rape, which suggests that the Florida ASRs face some more dire circumstances compared with ASRs at the national level. Repeal of policy that restricts public funding of abortion in Florida is recommended to improve access to abortion.