RESEARCH STUDY:

If you agree to participate in the study, you will be asked to participate in a 60-minute interview using Microsoft Teams, a secure video conferencing platform. The audio of the interview will be recorded, saved to a secure location, and transcribed. The transcription will be fully anonymized, meaning it will not include any names, places, or descriptors that could be used to identify you. Once the transcription is done, the audio recording will be permanently destroyed within 30 days from the date of the interview. No one except the research team will ever have access to the audio recording or the anonymized transcription.

The next paragraphs describe the types of questions that you will be asked in the interview. You can skip any question you do not want to answer. If at any time you would like to pause or stop the interview, you may do so. If you change your mind about participating and want to withdraw from the study, your data will be destroyed.

The focus of the interview will be your experiences working in abortion care and your experiences with stigma. Some of these experiences may be emotional or stressful to talk about. The interview is a confidential, judgment-free zone. Nothing you say will ever be “used against you” or your employer in any way. Your employer also will not know that you participated in this research unless you yourself choose to tell them.

I also will ask you some questions to understand the context of your experiences, such as the type of health care facility where you work (e.g., clinic, hospital, private practice), about your role (e.g., physician, NP, nurse-midwife, medical assistant), and about the characteristics of the community where you work. At no point will you be asked to name your employer or provide specific details about where you live. If you do say anything that could potentially be used to identify you later, it will be redacted in the data set to protect your privacy and ensure your safety.

During the interview, I will ask you some open-ended questions about how you identify your race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, political affiliation, and if you identify as having a disability. These questions are asked to understand how the identities we hold may shape our experiences with stigma.

Depending on the depth of your answers, you may be asked to complete a 60-minute follow-up interview if more information is needed. You have the right to say no. Declining a follow-up interview will not impact your participation in the study. If you consent to a follow-up interview, it will also be audio recorded and transcribed using the same process as the first interview.

The interview has the potential to distress participants by asking them to recount difficult experiences, and information shared may be sensitive in nature. The interview is a confidential, nonjudgmental space for participants to disclose their feelings and experiences around abortion stigma, and it is perfectly normal and acceptable for a range of feelings to come up. Participants who experience distress will be provided a list of counseling resources; participants may also stop the interview at any time that the distress is overwhelming or if they simply do not wish to continue. You can ask to withdraw and have your data destroyed at any time.

By sharing potentially distressing experiences, it is possible you may feel some relief after the interview as talking about stigmatizing experiences in a supportive environment can increase well-being. The benefits of the research are that it may yield insights to help you and your colleagues in the future. For example, if the study helps us identify activities that are helpful in processing/coping with stigma and activities that are not, we may be able to generate a list of recommendations for organizations (e.g., group discussions, one-on-one mental health support, BIPOC-specific resources) to implement to help their workers navigate stigma more effectively.

It is unlikely, though possible, that a participant and/or their employer could be identified in the event of a data breach, causing risks associated with social or economic well-being. We are taking every step to safeguard your privacy by limiting the amount of identifying information collected, de-identifying transcripts, keeping questions about participants' specific workplaces general, and destroying recordings.

There is $35 gift card compensation for your participation in an interview lasting approximately one hour.

Participation in this study is completely voluntary and confidential.

Your privacy and safety are of the utmost importance. Any real names, places, organizations, or other identifying details you name in your interview will be redacted in the data set. We will not publish any information that could be used to identify you or your employer.

You have the right to ask any questions about the research. You can contact the researchers, or you can call the Human Research Protection Program at Colorado State University at 970.491.1553 or email CSU_IRB@colostate.edu if you have any questions or concerns about your rights as a participant.

This study, “Managing Stigma in Abortion Care Work,” is being conducted by Becca Lee-Simpson, a graduate student in the Department of Communication Studies at Colorado State University, under the advisement of Associate Professor Dr. Meara Faw.

Becca Lee-Simpson (she/her/hers) has worked in U.S. reproductive health and rights since 2015. She currently advocates for abortion access nationwide as the communications director for Provide, a nonprofit that provides training and technical assistance to reduce barriers to care at the intersection of abortion and other stigmatized health care.