Putting abortion in its social context: Northern Irish women's experiences of abortion in England

Abstract

Psychology and psychiatry have tended to approach abortion as a health issue for individual women and to focus on the potentially negative psychological effects of the procedure. This individualistic approach has created an impression of abortion as intrinsically risky for women and has provided a very limited account of the relationship between the social context in which women experience abortion and their responses to it. This article reports a qualitative study of seven women from Northern Ireland (where abortion is very restricted) who had travelled to England for abortions. The analysis revealed strong links between the women's experience and the very negative public constructions of abortion in Northern Ireland. Possible implications for women's healthcare, for the public debate on abortion and for psychology's role in this debate, are discussed.