Buying abortion through the internet
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Buying abortion through the internet: exploring the social harm of criminalising abortion in Northern Ireland and the UK
IRAS ID
222972
Contact name
G. Horgan
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Ulster University
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 9 months, 8 days
Research summary
This research is funded by the ESRC under its Transformative Research Programme. The aim of this programme is ‘to provide a stimulus for genuinely transformative research ideas at the frontiers of the social sciences, enabling research which challenges current thinking to be supported and developed. That there has been so little research on this topic, particularly in Northern Ireland, has seriously limited the development of evidence informed policy. \n\nThe aim of the study is, to discover the different impact which having a legal abortion in Scotland and an illegal abortion in NI has on the sexual and emotional health of women. The study will do this through exploring the experiences of women in NI who have used the abortion pill illegally and those in Scotland who have accessed it through the NHS.\nThe findings will provide a new framing of the debate around social harm and the criminalisation of abortion in the UK. In doing so results will cast new light on existing policy in the UK, especially NI and provide policy makers with new information on which to base their policies. This qualitative study will be conducted using a focus group with women in NI who have had abortions using the abortion pill and in-depth individual interviews with women in Northern Ireland and Scotland who have had abortions using the abortion pill. A maximum of 30 participants in Scotland who have experienced an abortion using the abortion pill will be recruited through NHS facilities in Glasgow. In Northern Ireland a maximum of 40 participants who have taken the abortion pill illegally will be recruited. NGOs providing abortion advice and support and two not-for-profit web-based organisations that provide the pills to women in NI have agreed to assist with the recruitment of participants.\n\n\n\n\n\n
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/NW/0233
Date of REC Opinion
14 Jun 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion