Beyond Legality
Bureaucratic Violence and Obstacles to Abortion Care
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24019083 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ashley McKay (0009-0009-7441-8147, McMaster University), Melanie Heath (0000-0001-7945-7895, McMaster University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 406 |
| Pages | 119670 |
| Publication date | 2026-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social Science & Medicine (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0277-9536 • E-ISSN: 1873-5347 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.socscimed.2026.119670 |
| PMID | 42571758 |
| OpenAlex | W7172398992 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 40 |
Pregnant people across the globe continue to face significant barriers in their ability to access abortion care. Some of these barriers are due to bureaucratic systems that can delay or even deny abortion care access, highlighting how complex procedures, fragmented systems, and opaque rules bring challenges to getting services, especially for those with fewer resources or less institutional familiarity. Illuminating these operational processes and outcomes, this study advances the concept of "bureaucratic violence" to capture how administrative barriers can produce harm. Drawing on 36 in-depth interviews with Canadian reproductive health professionals and advocates, we identify three forms of bureaucratic violence. First, general bureaucratic impediments mean that individuals face poor access to information and technological challenges to accessing care. Second, bureaucratic processes generate funding barriers that restrict some populations from obtaining services. Finally, bureaucratic procedures for billing create additional obstacles to receiving care. Overall, this article uncovers how bureaucracy can serve as a formidable barrier that results in violence against some pregnant people's bodily autonomy and their ability to access abortion.
Abortion · Bureaucracy · Poison control · Population · Social issues · Suicide prevention · Gender Politics and Representation · Human Factors and Ergonomics · Reproductive Health and Contraception · Reproductive Health and Technologies
Street-Level Bureaucracy
Thematic Analysis
Public Policy, Rights, and Abortion Access in Canada
Outline of a Theory of Practice
Covid-19 and Abortion
The Bureaucratic Violence of the Health Care System for Pregnant Immigrants on the United States-Mexico Border
Providing family planning and reproductive healthcare to Canadian immigrants
Why does abortion stigma matter? A scoping review and hybrid analysis of qualitative evidence illustrating the role of stigma in the quality of abortion care
Seeking support for abortion care from national hotlines in Canada
Barriers to Abortion Care and Their Consequences For Patients Traveling for Services
Abortion as a sociological case
Barriers to abortion access in Australia before and during the Covid-19 pandemic
Navigating the Bureaucratic Dimensions of Reproductive Violence on the US‐Mexico Border During the Covid‐19 Public Health Emergency
Gendered administrative burden
Structural stigmatisation of abortion in the health system
Street-level diplomacy? Communicative and adaptive work at the front line of implementing public health policies in primary care
What Is Reproductive Justice
Reproductive gerrymandering, bureaucratic violence, and the erosion of abortion access in the United States
Different and Not Equal
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |