Anti-Abortion Picketing and Mental Health: Is There a Correlation Between Picketers and Post-traumatic Stress? [06I

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Previous research has demonstrated that abortion itself doesn’t lead to long term mental health problems. There is a void in the literature in the measurement of and severity of the impact of anti-abortion picketing exposure on patients. This study aims to assess if anti-abortion picketing impacts post-traumatic stress events in patients receiving care at EMW Women’s Surgical Center in Kentucky. METHODS: Post-traumatic stress events were measured using the Impact of Events Scale Revised (IES-R), a validated scale that identifies the severity in which respondents experience stress related thoughts and behaviors seven days following an event. Patients seeking surgical abortions were recruited from EMW with informed consent. Participants completed a demographic survey, in which participants estimated the amount of protestors that they encountered and the level of discomfort and harassment experienced. Seven days after the procedure, participants received an email to complete the IES-R assessment, to measure post-traumatic stress events. An objective number of protestors were counted on each day of enrollment. RESULTS: A total of 72 participants were enrolled between October 2018 and May 2019. Twenty-five participants (35%) completed the follow-up IES-R survey. Participants who perceived larger number of protestors experienced more discomfort (P=.001) and reported more harassment (P<.001). There was no statistical difference in objective number of protestors and IES-R scores (P=.402). Participants who perceived larger amounts of protestors had significantly higher IES-R scores that met probable PTSD diagnosis (P=.040). CONCLUSION: This information highlights how patients’ perception of anti-abortion protestors negatively impacts the mental wellbeing of patients undergoing surgical abortions at EMW.