Precarity and pills in a pandemic: online abortion care-seeking in Poland during COVID-19

COVID-19 and subsequent policy measures (e.g., lockdowns) impacted abortion care-seeking and provision, including availability and accessibility of care services. We examine the impact of COVID-19 on abortion-seeking in Poland using quantitative and qualitative secondary data from abortion care-seekers’ (n=8,577) online consultations (April-Dec 2020) with an abortion telehealth provider working in Poland. COVID-19 amplified job and financial insecurity and precarity, influencing abortion decision-making. COVID-19 measures like lockdowns limited privacy, exacerbating the need for secrecy as a key element in abortion care-seeking, particularly when at risk of interpersonal violence. Personal support systems, often essential in pregnancy, birthing, and parenting, were altered by COVID-19. The loss of key family members (e.g., wage earners or carers) heightened financial and social vulnerability. This collapsing of support systems and networks during the pandemic, shaped abortion decision-making. Pregnancy during COVID-19 potentially exposed people and their families to greater precarity and forms of structural violence, making it a ‘cliff edge’. Locating abortion experiences in Poland within macro-level intersections of the pandemic, neoliberal policies, and shifting abortion governance (e.g., further restricting of abortion), we highlight the difficulties in accessing abortion care and support. Shifting away from predominant health or rights framings of abortion, we offer new empirical evidence that explores how the pandemic heightened existing structural violence and precariousness, shaping abortion care-seeking and decision-making.