Katherine Rafferty, Ph.D., M.A.

Women experience high degree of internal turmoil, regret upon taking mifepristone

The purpose of this exploratory analysis is to understand women's medication abortion and abortion pill reversal decision-making experiences, with a particular focus on their communication with their medical providers.

As medication abortion accounts for a growing share of abortions in the United States, an increasing number of women are seeking abortion pill reversal (APR). These decisions are typically not made in isolation. However, little research exists on women’s APR decision-making and the role played by people close to them.

Nearly 70% of women with a history of abortion describe their abortions as inconsistent with their own values and preferences, with one in four describing their abortions as unwanted or coerced, according to the study published in the medical journal Cureus.

Perceived pressure to abort is strongly associated with women attributing more negative mental health outcomes to their abortions. The one-third of women for whom abortion is wanted and consistent with their values and preferences are most likely over-represented in studies initiated at abortion clinics.

Our study is one of the first to analyze women’s narratives after having had a medication abortion. Using relational dialectics theory, we conducted a case study of the nonpartisan website, Abortion Changes You.

"My biggest issue is this: a parent is a caregiver and then of course the health professionals are the caregivers, but you know, who gets the final say?" -Mother whose daughter has osteosarcoma This essential question was posed by the mother of

Katherine Rafferty, Ph.D., M.A., is a lecturer at Iowa State University and previously worked as a Health Communication Specialist for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia. She conducts research that lies at the intersection of interpersonal and health communication, with a focus on how patients and families manage and cope with chronic illness and end-of-life care.