“Of course I would tell a friend about self-management with pills”: the role of hotlines in increasing access to self-managed abortion in Kenya

Safe abortion hotlines operating in highly restrictive abortion settings provide critical information about safe self-managed medication abortion. The Mobilizing Activists around Medical Abortion (MAMA) Network has pioneered this model in the African region and supports various safe abortion hotlines across the continent. The aim of this study was to document the experiences of callers using a safe abortion hotline in Kenya and to better understand the role that safe abortion hotlines can play in facilitating access to abortion information. In this paper, we present findings from interviews with 19 hotline callers seeking information about medication abortion from a hotline in Kenya, between February and May 2019. Emergent themes included support from hotline counselors, readiness to self-manage, abortion experiences, preference for medication abortion, and the role of hotlines in reducing abortion stigma. Our findings shed light on important components related to the quality of the care provided by the hotlines and their role in destigmatizing abortion care, while serving as an example of the crucial work of feminist activists in expanding pregnant people’s health and autonomy in highly restrictive abortion settings.