Factors influencing abortion decisions, delays, and experiences with abortion accompaniment in Mexico among women living outside Mexico City: results from a cross-sectional study

Access to abortion throughout much of Mexico has been restricted. Fondo Maria is an abortion accompaniment fund that provides informational, logistical, financial, and emotional support to people seeking abortion care in Mexico. This cross-sectional study examines the factors that influenced decisionmaking and contributed to delays in accessing care and explores experiences with Fondo Maria’s support among women living outside Mexico City (CDMX). We describe and compare the experiences of women across the sample (n = 103) who were either supported by Fondo Maria to travel to CDMX to obtain an abortion (n = 60), or self-managed a medical abortion in their home state (n = 43). Data were collected between January 2017 and July 2018. Seventy-seven percent of participants reported that it was difficult to access abortion care in their home state and 34% of participants indicated they were delayed in accessing care, primarily due to a lack of financial support. The majority of participants (58%) who travelled to CDMX for their abortion did so because it seemed safer. The money/cost of the trip was the most commonly cited reason (33%) why participants who self-managed stayed in their home state. Eighty-seven percent of participants said Fondo Maria’s services met or exceeded their expectations. Our data suggest that people seeking abortion and living outside CDMX face multiple and overlapping barriers that can delay care-seeking and influence decisionmaking. Abortion accompaniment networks, such as Fondo Maria, offer a well-received model of support for people seeking abortion in restrictive states across Mexico. L’accès à l’avortement dans une grande partie du Mexique est retreint. Fondo MARIA est un fonds d’accompagnement de l’avortement qui prodigue un soutien informatif, logistique, financier et psychologique aux personnes souhaitant interrompre une grossesse au Mexique. Cette étude transversale examine les facteurs qui ont influencé la prise de décision et contribué à des retards dans l’accès aux soins, et elle explore l’expérience du soutien de Fondo MARIA chez des femmes vivant hors de l’agglomération de Mexico. Nous décrivons et comparons les expériences des femmes dans l’échantillon (n = 103) qui ont été soutenues par Fondo MARIA pour se rendre à Mexico afind’y avorter (n = 60) ou qui ont pris en charge ellesmêmes un avortement médicamenteux dans leur État de résidence (n = 43). Les données ont été recueillies de janvier 2017 à juillet 2018. Soixante-dix