“Is This Normal?”: A Qualitative Exploration of Narratives of Social Support in a Reddit-Based Community for Abortion Following the Dobbs Leak in 2022
Pleasants, E., Parham, L., Weidert, K., Anderson, E., Dolgins, E., Prata, N., … Upadhyay, U. (2024). “Is This Normal?”: A Qualitative Exploration of Narratives of Social Support in a Reddit-Based Community for Abortion Following the Dobbs Leak in 2022. Women’s Reproductive Health, 12(1), 157–178. https://doi.org/10.1080/23293691.2024.2413474
Abstract
The months following the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization leak and subsequent decision in 2022, which removed federal legal protections of abortion, presented a challenging period for abortion in the United States and a time when sources of and experiences with social support likely changed rapidly. We used thematic analysis of randomly selected relevant posts from an abortion subreddit (r/abortion) during 2022 following the Dobbs leak (n = 503) to identify forms of interpersonal abortion social support accessed, support gaps, and support sought and shared in r/abortion. Findings reflect people’s needs for more and different support, particularly those using medication abortion.