Informed Consent

CONSENT FORM

You are invited to take part in a research study about the experiences of abortion for Black women in the Southern United States, who have also experienced sexual trauma in their life. This form is part of a process called “informed consent” to allow you to understand this study before deciding whether to take part.

This study seeks 6-12 volunteers who:
  • identify as Black
  • are 18 years or older
  • were assigned as female sex at birth
  • are able to easily speak and understand English
  • live in one of these states: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, or West Virginia
  • got an abortion more than 12 months ago
  • was sexually harmed in their life (the sexual harm must have happened before the abortion)
  • have worked with a professional (examples: counselor, pastor) to deal with history of sexual harm
This study is being conducted by a researcher named Katie Alewine, who is a doctoral student at Walden University.

Study Purpose:
The purpose of this study is to understand the experiences of abortion in the Southern United States for Black women who have a history of sexual trauma.

Procedures:
This study would involve you completing the following steps:
  • Complete an anonymous online survey (30 minutes-60 minutes)
Here are some sample questions:
  • Can you tell me how you came to decide to end your pregnancy?
  • Can you share with me about your abortion experience?
  • In your opinion, did being a Black woman have any impact on your abortion experience? If yes, can you please tell me more about that?
  • Without giving any details about your experience of sexual trauma, can you tell me if your experience of sexual trauma affected your experience of abortion in any way?
Voluntary Nature of the Study:
Research should only be done with those who freely volunteer. So, everyone involved will respect your decision to join or not. If you decide to join the study now, you can still change your mind later. You may stop at any time. You can also skip any questions on the survey if you don’t want to share that information. Again, this survey is completely anonymous. You will not be asked for any information about yourself.
Risks and Benefits of Being in the Study:
Being in this project might make you tired or stressed, just like you might feel if you were sharing sensitive information with others during your daily life, posing minimal risk to you with the protections in place. Also, as there are various state laws about abortions, there are some minimal legal risks. However, as the surveys are anonymous and ask for no identifying information, no one will have any information that could identify you. If you feel like you need help or to talk to someone, you can call or text the number 988, to reach the national crisis hotline. The hotline is free and is open to help people 24/7 every day of the year. If distress arises, additional support can be obtained via www.FindTreatment.gov or 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

This study offers no direct benefits to individual volunteers. The aim of this study is to benefit society by giving social workers, counselors, doctors, and nurses more information about how to help and work with Black women who have these experiences. Results of this study will be automatically published online in Scholarworks (a publication of Walden University doctoral research) which can be viewed free of charge.

Payment:
Since this study is completely anonymous, I will not be able to reach out to you and no payment is provided for completing this survey. I would like to thank you for your consideration and time if you choose to answer the survey questions.

Privacy:
I am required to protect your privacy. The survey does not ask any questions about your name, address, phone number, or any other information that might identify you. Please do not provide any of this information in the survey, so that you can remain completely anonymous. I will not use the answers to the survey questions for any reason outside of this research project. If I use what I found out from this project in a future study, there would not be another consent form for you to sign, because all of your information is completely anonymous.

I would like to let you know that I have another student, who is a Black woman, that is going to also see the answers to the survey questions and check over my work to provide support. The answers to the survey questions will be kept on my personal laptop which is password protected and only used by myself. If I print answers to the survey questions, I will keep the paperwork in a locked file cabinet that only I have a key to. The university requires me to keep the paperwork for at least 5 years. I will then delete your survey answers off of my computer and shred the paperwork.

Contacts and Questions:
You can ask me any questions you want about the study. You can reach me at 706-491-1422. Please do not provide me with your name if you call, so that you will remain anonymous. If you want to talk privately about your rights as a participant, you can call Walden University’s Research Participant Advocate at 612-312-1210. Walden University’s approval number for this study is 12-03-24-1046256. It expires on December 2, 2025.

You might wish to retain this consent form for your records. You may ask the researcher or Walden University for a copy at any time using the contact info above. You may also save this form to your computer or print out a copy at this time.

Obtaining Your Consent

Question Title

* If you feel you understand the study and wish to volunteer, please indicate your consent by clicking “OK.” If you click, “OK,” you will be taken to the survey to answer questions.

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