Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH), Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, 1330 Broadway, Suite 1100, Oakland, CA, 94612, USA.
Matern Child Health J. 2022 Feb;26(2):381-388. doi: 10.1007/s10995-021-03235-y. Epub 2021 Oct 8.
Prior research shows that maternal and child health (MCH) and family planning (FP) divisions in health departments (HDs) engage in some abortion-related activities, largely when legally mandated; some agencies also initiate abortion-related activities. Yet little is known about health department MCH/FP professionals' views on how abortion-related work aligns with their professional mission.
Between November 2017 and June 2018, we conducted in-depth interviews with 29 MCH/FP professionals working in 22 state and local HDs across the U.S. We conducted inductive thematic analysis to identify themes regarding participants' professional mission and values in relation to abortion-related work.
Participants described a strong sense of professional mission. Two contrasting perspectives on abortion and the MCH/FP mission emerged: some participants saw abortion as clearly outside the scope of their mission, even a threat to it, while others saw abortion as solidly within their mission. In states with supportive or restrictive abortion policy environments, professionals' views on abortion and professional mission generally aligned with their overall state policy environment; in states with middle-ground abortion policy environments, a range of perspectives on abortion and professional mission were expressed. Participants who saw abortion as within their mission anchored their work in core public health values such as evidence-based practice, social justice, and ensuring access to health care.
There appears to be a lack of consensus about whether and how abortion fits into the mission of MCH/FP. More work is needed to articulate whether and how abortion aligns with the MCH/FP mission.
先前的研究表明，卫生部门（HDs）的母婴健康（MCH）和计划生育（FP）部门从事一些与堕胎相关的活动，主要是在法律规定的情况下；一些机构也开展与堕胎相关的活动。然而，对于卫生部门 MCH/FP 专业人员如何看待与堕胎相关的工作与他们的专业使命相符，人们知之甚少。
在 2017 年 11 月至 2018 年 6 月期间，我们对美国 22 个州和地方 HDs 的 29 名从事 MCH/FP 工作的专业人员进行了深入访谈。我们采用归纳主题分析方法，确定了参与者的专业使命和价值观与与堕胎相关的工作之间的主题。
参与者描述了强烈的专业使命感。关于堕胎和 MCH/FP 使命的两种截然不同的观点出现了：一些参与者认为堕胎显然超出了他们的使命范围，甚至对其构成威胁，而另一些参与者则认为堕胎完全符合他们的使命。在堕胎政策环境支持或限制的州，专业人员对堕胎和专业使命的看法通常与他们的总体州政策环境一致；在堕胎政策环境处于中间地带的州，表达了对堕胎和专业使命的一系列看法。将堕胎视为自己使命一部分的参与者将其工作锚定在核心公共卫生价值观上，例如循证实践、社会正义和确保获得医疗保健。
似乎对于堕胎是否以及如何符合 MCH/FP 的使命没有达成共识。需要做更多的工作来阐明堕胎是否以及如何与 MCH/FP 的使命相一致。
