Abortion Stigma: A Systematic Review

Hanschmidt, Franz; Linde, Katja; Hilbert, Anja; Riedel‐Heller, Steffi G.; Kersting, Anette

doi:10.1363/48e8516

Cited by 285 publications

(208 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Stigma has been theoretically applied to many social and biological conditions, and a growing body of recent research has attempted to conceptualize as well as measure abortion stigma (Cockrill, Upadhyay, Turan, & Foster, 2013;Cockrill & Nack, 2013;Cowan, 2017;Hanschmidt, Linde, Hilbert, Riedel-Heller, & Kersting, 2016;Kumar, Hessini, & Mitchell, 2009;Major & Gramzow, 1999;Norris et al, 2011;Shellenberg & Tsui, 2012) Major and Gramzow (1999) were the first to describe how the concept of stigma could be applied to the process of coping with the abortion experience, finding negative mental health impacts from concealing an abortion from others and from suppressing thoughts about it internally. Kumar et al (2009) further developed these ideas to understand the formation of abortion stigma, labeling it as multi-faceted, multi-dimensional, and operating on many different societal levels.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Managing Religion and Morality Within the Abortion Experience: Qualitative Interviews With Women Obtaining Abortions in the U.S.

Frohwirth¹,

Coleman²,

Moore³

2018

World Med & Health Policy

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Most women in the United States are religious, and most major religions in the United States doctrinally disapprove of abortion. A substantial proportion of U.S. women have abortions. Although relationships among religious beliefs, abortion attitudes, behaviors, and stigma have been found in previous research, the relationship between stigma and religion is understudied. In‐depth interviews conducted with 78 women having abortions at nine sites in the United States found religion to permeate abortion stigma manifestations and management strategies identified in previous research, for religious and religiously affiliated respondents as well as those who did not claim a religious affiliation. Health‐care providers, religious leaders, researchers, and advocates need to recognize the influence religion has on the experience of obtaining an abortion for all women in the United States.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Managing Religion and Morality Within the Abortion Experience: Qualitative Interviews With Women Obtaining Abortions in the U.S.

Frohwirth¹,

Coleman²,

Moore³

2018

World Med & Health Policy

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“…Abortion-related stigma stems from the challenges abortion presents to social, cultural and religious beliefs 39 40. This stigma permits myths about abortion to propagate, can lead to shame and harassment and, particularly in countries where abortion is illegal or restricted, can be a barrier to women accessing high-quality PAC services 2 39 40. Inconsistencies in service provision across various provider facilities (government/public, non-government and private) has also been found to create barriers to access to contraception and SRH information post-abortion.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Access to contraception and sexual and reproductive health information post-abortion: a systematic review of literature from low- and middle-income countries

Rogers

Dantas

2017

J Fam Plann Reprod Health Care

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Aim This systematic literature review documented, analysed and critiqued the accessibility of contraception and sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information for women living in low-and middle-income countries who have undergone medical or surgical abortion. Methodology This review systematically collated relevant and recent empirical evidence regarding women's access to contraception and SRH information post-abortion within low-and middle-income countries. The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) framework Guidelines, Flow Diagram and Checklist were utilised to undertake the review. The Ovid (MEDLINE), ProQuest, Science Direct, Web of Science, PUBMED and CINAHL databases were searched and studies that met edibility criteria were assessed for validity and analysis. A narrative synthesis of characteristics and results of the included studies is presented. Findings After detailed assessment of available and relevant literature, nine studies were selected for inclusion in the review. Studies highlighted barriers to contraception and SRH information including supply limitation, lack of comprehensive education and counselling, lack of skilled post-abortion care (PAC) providers and abortion stigma. Conclusions The review found that with access to a wide range of contraceptive methods combined with comprehensive SRH information and education, contraception uptake in women post-abortion does increase. The review also highlights the inconsistencies in clinic-reported 'counselling' and what this term actually involves within a PAC setting.

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“…(Kumar, Hessini, and Mitchell 2009, 628) Abortion stigma works to produce widespread silence and secrecy around abortion; many women perceive that if their abortion were to become known to various groups (family, friends, work communities, religious communities, and so on), then they would be looked down upon, labeled evil or abnormal, and would likely experience discrimination. Subsequently, these women decide to keep their abortion procedures secret (Hanschmidt et al 2016).…”

Section: Abortion Stigmamentioning

confidence: 99%

A Good Abortion Is a Tragic Abortion: Fit Motherhood and Disability Stigma

McKinney¹

2019

Hypatia

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In the context of abortion stigma, most abortion stories remain untold. The stories we do tell of abortion are often told to morally recuperate the status of the woman who has an abortion through a recourse to tragedy. Tragedy frames experiences where every choice produces some suffering, so decisions are geared toward maintaining individual integrity rather than adherence to absolute moral truths. This article argues that one dominant tragic abortion narrative, that of the disabled fetus, works to recuperate the moral status of “fit” mothers while actively constructing disabled lives as unlivable and undesirable. The option to stigmatize disability in recuperating the moral status of the woman who has an abortion relies on eugenic logics that also construct a variety of women (racialized, poor, disabled, and young) as illegitimate reproductive subjects. The article analyzes narratives of Sherri Finkbine's 1962 abortion in relation to contemporary narratives of late‐term abortions involving nonviable fetuses to expose how investment in medical judgments of good births enables particular women to make use of tragic narratives to maintain their status as moral mothers without disturbing broader abortion stigma or eugenic logics.

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Abortion Stigma: A Systematic Review

Abstract: More research, using validated measures, is needed to enhance understanding of abortion stigma and thereby reduce its impact on affected individuals.

Cited by 285 publications

References 44 publications

Managing Religion and Morality Within the Abortion Experience: Qualitative Interviews With Women Obtaining Abortions in the U.S.

Managing Religion and Morality Within the Abortion Experience: Qualitative Interviews With Women Obtaining Abortions in the U.S.

Access to contraception and sexual and reproductive health information post-abortion: a systematic review of literature from low- and middle-income countries

A Good Abortion Is a Tragic Abortion: Fit Motherhood and Disability Stigma

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