National Surveys of Women s Health Care Providers and the Public: Views and Practices on Medical Abortion THE KAISER FOUNDATION FAMILY

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1 Chartpack September 24, 2001 THE KAISER FAMILY FOUNDATION National Surveys of Women s Health Care Providers and the Public: Views and Practices on Medical Abortion

2 Methodology The Kaiser Family Foundation s 2001 National Survey of Women s Health Care Providers on Reproductive Health: Views and Practices on Medical Abortion is a national random-sample telephone survey of 790 health care providers, including 595 gynecologists (OBGYN) and 195 family practitioners, internists, and general practitioners (referred to as general practice physicians (GPP)). The questionnaire was designed by staff at the Kaiser Family Foundation and Princeton Survey Research Associates (PSRA) and analysis was conducted by staff at the Foundation. Fieldwork was conducted by telephone by PSRA between May 15 and August 28, The sample was drawn from the American Medical Association s Masterfile. The final response rate was 59 percent. The data have been weighted by age, gender, and region to be representative of national samples of OBGYNs and GPPs and to account in part for nonresponse. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percent for gynecologists and plus or minus 7 percent for general practice physicians and may be larger for certain subsets presented in this analysis. The public data was collected as part of the Foundation s August 2001 Health News Index, an ongoing national survey conducted in conjunction with the Harvard School of Public Health to track awareness and knowledge of health issues in the news. The questions were designed and analyzed by the Foundation. Fieldwork was conducted by telephone by PSRA with 1005 adults 18 and older between August 2 and 5, The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percent for results based on the entire sample, plus or minus 5 percent from those 18-44, and plus or minus 7 percent for men and women and may be larger for certain subsets presented in this analysis. The Kaiser Family Foundation is an independent, national health philanthropy dedicated to providing information and analysis on health issues to policymakers, the media, and the general public. The Foundation is not associated with Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries.

3 Chart 1 FAMILIARITY WITH MIFEPRISTONE Percent of physicians who say they are familiar with mifepristone Familiar 82% 28% Very familiar Very familiar Familiar 61% 7% Not Familiar 39% 54% familiar Not Familiar 54% 13% 5% Not too familiar Not at all familiar familiar 21% Not too familiar Not at all familiar General Practice Physicians*

4 Chart 2 VIEWS ON SAFETY AND EFFICACY Percent of physicians familiar with mifepristone who say the drug is Safe Effective 92% 92% 93% 88% 47% 64% Very safe Very safe 67% 69% Very effective Very effective 28% 45% 26% 19% safe safe effective effective General Practice Physicians* General Practice Physicians*

5 Chart 3 WHO IS PROVIDING MEDICAL ABORTION? AND WHO WILL PROVIDE IT IN THE NEXT YEAR? Percent of physicians who have provided mifepristone since its approval Percent of physicians who have not yet used mifepristone who say they are likely to provide it in the coming year 16% 4% Very likely 7% 12% 6% 1% likely 7% likely General Practice Physicians* General Practice Physicians*

6 Chart 4 SURGICAL AND MEDICAL ABORTION PRACTICES too ely Surgical abortion practices among physicians Currently perform surgical abortions 27% Do not provide surgical abortions 72% 25% Not within 5 years Do not provide surgical abortions 99% 9% Not within 5 years Among the 27 percent of gynecologists who currently perform surgical abortions, the percent who have provided mifepristone since its approval 10% Routinely 17% Performed in the last 5 years no familiar 47% Never Currently perform surgical abortions 1% Routinely & Performed in the last 5 years 90% Never likely likely likely 12% General Practice Physicians*

7 Chart 5 ATTITUDES TOWARD MEDICAL ABORTION Percent of physicians who do not provide mifepristone who say it is because they are personally opposed and the percent of those physicians who refer to other providers Not personally opposed Not personally opposed 58% Personally opposed Refer 59% Personally opposed 40% 37% Refer } 51% } 33% General Practice Physicians*

8 Chart 6 REASONS FOR NOT PROVIDING MIFEPRISTONE: GYNECOLOGISTS Percent of gynecologists who do not provide mifepristone for reasons other than personal opposition There is not much demand for it from patients 27% 35% 62 % Concerns about protests or violence 21% 30% 51% No interest in performing abortions 20% 29% 49% Office space isn t set up to offer medical abortions 15% 33% 48% There is too much political controversy surrounding abortion 29% 47% There are too many legal regulations associated with abortion 21% 39% Do not know enough about mifepristone 22% 13% 35% FDA requirements to provide are too complicated 20% 13% 33% Concerns about lawsuits 11% 13% 24% Concerns about the safety or efficacy There is no surgical back-up near office 6% 15% 12% 10% 25% important Very important

9 Chart 7 REASONS FOR NOT PROVIDING MIFEPRISTONE: GENERAL PRACTICE PHYSICIANS Percent of general practice physicians* who do not provide mifepristone for reasons other than personal opposition There is not much demand for it from patients 14% 56% 70% No interest in performing abortions 15% 51% 66% Office space isn t set up to offer medical abortions 4% 55% 59% Do not know enough about mifepristone 40% 58% There is no surgical back-up near office 5% 35% 40% Too many legal regulations associated with mifepristone 36% Concerns about lawsuits 19% 37% FDA requirements are too complicated 14% 20% 34% Concerns about safety or efficacy 12% 17% 29% Too much political controversy surrounding abortion Concerns about protests or violence 10% 12% 13% 28% 25% important Very important

10 Chart 8 WOMEN S KNOWLEDGE OF MIFEPRISTONE Percent of women aged who have heard of mifepristone (also known as RU486) Among the 61 percent of women aged who have heard of mifepristone the percent who believe* It is a drug used to TERMINATE pregnancy 86% It is a drug used to PREVENT unintended or unplanned pregnancy 58% 61% It is the same thing as emergency contraceptive pills 42% * Multiple responses accepted Percent who identify mifepristone ONLY as a drug used to TERMINATE pregnancy 14% Source: Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health. August 2001 Health News Index; conducted August 2 5, 2001

11 The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation 2400 Sand Hill Road Menlo Park, CA Phone: Fax: Washington Office: 1450 G Street NW, Suite 250 Washington, DC Phone: Fax: Additional copies of this publication (#3181) are available on the Kaiser Family Foundation's web site at or by calling the Foundation's Publication Request Line at