Dirty Work and Intimacy: Creating an Abortion Worker

Abortion work has changed in the decades since Roe v. Wade, and concerns over efficiency and cost reduction have resulted in increased specialization and compartmentalization of duties among health workers. This study examines the current state of surgical abortion at a clinic in southern California...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of health and social behavior Vol. 62; no. 4; pp. 512 - 525
Main Author Ward, Kelly Marie
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.12.2021
American Sociological Association
Subjects
Abortion
Abortion clinics
Abortion, Induced
Cost reduction
Female
Fieldwork
Humans
Intimacy
Medical personnel
Medicine
Nurses
Occupations
Physicians
Pregnancy
Specialization
United States
Work
Workers
United States
dirty work
abortion
intimate work
medical assistants
health care
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Summary:Abortion work has changed in the decades since Roe v. Wade, and concerns over efficiency and cost reduction have resulted in increased specialization and compartmentalization of duties among health workers. This study examines the current state of surgical abortion at a clinic in southern California. Drawing on 18 months of ethnographic fieldwork at an abortion clinic, I use theories of dirty work and intimate work to examine how abortion work is organized and allocated among staff. I find that work in the clinic is best understood as existing on two intersecting spectrums of intimacy and dirtiness. Whereas existing research on abortion workers has primarily focused on doctors and nurses, this study includes medical assistants and compares experiences across different occupations. I conclude that frequency, intensity, and purpose of intimate work and dirty work coalesce to create distinct types of abortion workers.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
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ISSN:0022-1465
2150-6000
DOI:10.1177/00221465211016440