Lay summary
Māori women have the right to make informed choices about their sexual and reproductive health and to have access to timely, culturally effective health services. Within Aotearoa New Zealand, abortion is classed as healthcare and recent legislative changes have made this conceptualisation of abortion more straightforward. Māori women's rights to access effective abortion services means having access to the best possible standard of care, including methods of treatment known to have less adverse impacts. Early medical abortion is recognised as being less invasive than the surgical option. This research is concerned with exploring and identifying those aspects of the abortion healthcare provision pathway that either facilitate or limit Māori women's access to early medication-based options. Māori views on abortion will also be explored to develop information that can support culturally effective service provision.