The Wallace Center and the School of Information of UC Berkeley Investigates Peoples Google Searches for Out-Of-Clinic Medication Abortions in the United States in 2020

Wallace center researchers Dr. Sylvia Guendelman and Betsy Pleasants collaborated with UC Berkeley’s School of Information to assess the impact COVID-19 had on Google searches for abortion. The study used the Google Trends website to determine relative search index (RSI) and relative search volume (RSV) for three search terms: home abortion, self abortion, and buy abortion pill online. The study found that in the United States during the pandemic, there was more interest in home abortion than in minimally or nonclinically supported self-abortions, promoting future investigation into using Google searches to monitor individuals’ access to abortion-related information and services.

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