Table 4

The theme societal norms—illustrated by categories, subcategories and selected codes emerged from two FGDs with PAC providers (n=12) in a low-resource setting in Kenya

Theme	Category	Subcategory	Code
Societal norms	Moral and religious beliefs	Moral judging	You are still too young to be sexually active.
			Using contraceptives means you are a bad girl.
			A woman without children should be a virgin.
			Everyone thinks abortion is shameful.
		Religious, cultural and legal crime	Procuring an abortion is like killing.
			You have committed a sin.
			Abortion is criminal.
		Personal values	Providers are the same people you meet in church.
			You can easily counsel a girl out of the abortion.
			It is not necessary to terminate that pregnancy.
			A young person should not be given contraceptives.
		Abortion requires valid indications	When the mother is at risk.
			When there is gross fetal malformation.
			In cases of rape.
	Myths and misconceptions	Believed side effects of contraceptives	Infertility.
			Giving birth to abnormal children.
			Long-acting reversible contraceptives cannot be provided to young women without children.
		Contraceptive use leads to promiscuity	A girl given access to contraceptives will start sleeping around.
		Contraceptive use leads to promiscuity	She is going to become a dropout.
	Societal resistance	Lack of a clear abortion policy	A clear policy on abortion is needed.
			Everyone still believes abortion is a crime.
			Others will view you as a criminal.
		Fear of prosecution	We were told to withdraw the term ‘ safe abortion ’.
			If you do abort, the law will catch up with you.
			Our hands are tied.
		Institutional blocks	The policymakers stop us from talking about abortion.
			Teachers are not allowed to talk about abortion and contraceptives.
			Focus on advocacy through the church leaders.
	Women’s inferiority	Lack of autonomy	Young girls have intergenerational sex for money.
			Men do not take responsibility for the pregnancies.
			Men make decisions for their women.
			Her parents will stop paying her school fees.
		The burden of secrecy	Girls have abortions secretly to hide it from their parents.
			An unintended pregnancy lowers her status in the community.
			She cannot share her secret with anyone.
		Exclusion and discrimination	A pregnant girl may be considered an outcast.
			People do not want to be associated with her.
			She will be isolated.
			That girl using contraceptives will be labelled a sex worker.
			She will be mistreated by parents, teachers and the community.

FGD, focus group discussions; PAC, postabortion care.