Research into protests and vigils that take place outside clinics and hospitals offering abortion care

Footnotes

1. Approval must be obtained from two doctors that continuing the pregnancy would cause damage to the woman’s physical or mental health. The abortion must be carried out in a hospital or approved health facility. Pregnancy gestation must not exceed 24 weeks (except in circumstances where continuing the pregnancy would endanger the life or health of the pregnant women or in cases where there is a diagnosis of a serious foetal abnormality). Engender (2016), Our Bodies, Our Choice: The Case for a Scottish Approach to Abortion. Available from: https://www.engender.org.uk/news/blog/our-bodies-our-choice-the-case-for-a-scottish-approach-to-abortion (accessed 17 July 2022).

2. Interpretivist approaches acknowledge that the involvement of researchers in the analysis and interpretation of information necessarily integrates subjective perspectives.

3. The term hermeneutics refers to a field of research that relates to the theories and methodological processes involved in interpreting, understanding, and categorizing social phenomenon. The term interpretivism is used here to describe the process a researcher follows when grouping together concepts and assigning meaning. To reduce the potential for researcher bias, interpretivist approaches (such as the one used here) includes reflection, discussion, and a reliance on multiple data sources, such as the existing international evidence base, which provides a framework to justify and understand decisions made during the categorization process. For further information, please see: Gillo, M. D. (2021). Fundamentals of hermeneutics as a qualitative research theoretical framework. European Journal of Education and Pedagogy, 2(3), 42-45.

4. This involved a member of the research team approaching those participating in protest or vigil activity and seeking consent to interview them in the moment.

5. 40 Days for Life is an international campaign organisation that aims to end abortion through a number of activities including prayer, vigils, fasting and community outreach.

6. Our Lady of Guadalupe is recognised in the Catholic faith as a patron of the unborn child and has been invoked as a symbol by several organisations who describe their activities as being ‘pro-life’.

7. 640 Days for Life (2023). Available at: https://www.40daysforlife.com/en/vigil-search.aspx (accessed 02 November 2023).

8. https://rcdop.org.uk/events/palm-sunday-prayer-vigil

9. Abortion stigma can be defined as a social phenomenon that relates to both context and society. Hussein and Ferguson (2019) suggest that this involves implied processes where a woman becomes negatively labelled, and experiences shame or stigma. Biggs et al. (2020) describe abortion stigma as being a negative attribute that is ascribed to women that marks them out as being inferior because they do not necessarily ascribe to the view that motherhood is a pre-destined state for a woman. Hussein and Ferguson (2019) describe stigma as a stain on a person’s identify and note that stigma can have a long-term negative impact on a woman’s sense of self and psychological wellbeing.

10. The RAG comprises academics and researchers with expertise related to abortion vigils and anti-abortion protests.

11. A risk of bias tool is a list of questions that are used systematically to identify sources of researcher or selection bias within the inclusion/exclusion criteria assessment. A first reviewer makes initial decisions on inclusion/exclusion, and this is then screened and assessed for bias by a second reviewer. The tool is used as the basis for discussion and to enable researchers to critically assess all decisions.

12. The term inductive analysis refers to an approach where the researcher begins by examining the literature or data and organises the findings according to the concepts that come up, without using a pre-formed hypothesis. The term deductive analysis refers to an approach where the researcher looks for information that specifically and clearly relates to the research questions. The combined approach means that the researcher can identify both expected and unexpected findings. This also reduces reliance on preconceived ideas about what the literature/data may be saying, and thereby reduces bias.

13. There are many forms of positivism, but the term ‘positivist school of thought’ is used here to refer to those who believe that quantitative data should be prioritized and considered to be the only value-free way to understand social issues.

14. Interpretivism is a school of thought that is concerned with detailed variables and factors related to a context. Interpretivism considers that differences in cultures, societal structures, common beliefs and key moments in contextual history led to the development of different social realities which differ from one society to another. Interpretivist research seeks to include rich insights, instead of seeking to provide generalisable ‘facts’ (Alharahsheh et al, 2020).