Also Included In: Psychology / Psychiatry
Article Date: 29 Jun 2011 - 4:00 PDT
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An international team of researchers says abortion stigma is under researched, under theorized and over emphasized in one category: women who've had abortions. As a result, they're launching a new direction into research that explores the social stigma surrounding abortion.
Their invited paper, "Abortion Stigma: A Reconceptualization of Constituents, Causes, and Consequences," is published in the current journal, Women's Health Issues (Vol. 21, issue 3, supplement). The team of researchers is represented by The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health; the University of Cincinnati Department of Sociology; the University of California, San Francisco, Department of Psychiatry; the Guttmacher Institute in New York; Goldsmiths College, University of London; and Center for the Study of Women, University of California, Los Angeles.
"There is very little research on abortion stigma, and what does exist has focused on women who have had abortions and on those experiences. We're looking at stigma in a broader context," explains research team member Danielle Bessett, assistant professor of sociology, University of Cincinnati.
The authors cite previous research on abortion stigma including that abortion violates "feminine ideals," that abortion is stigmatized because of legal restrictions, and that it is viewed as "dirty or unhealthy."
Bessett explains that each researcher on the project is exploring a specific group that could be affected by stigma, such as health care providers that perform abortions, supporters of women who have had abortions, the male partner of the woman who had an abortion, women's experience in pregnancy after previously having an abortion and women's self stigma after suffering miscarriage.
"This is new territory into research around the social issues surrounding abortion," says Bessett, who adds the research will be conducted in both national and international settings, including the United States, Zambia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Mexico, Brazil and countries in Europe.
"Understanding abortion stigma will inform strategies to reduce it, which has direct implications for improving access to care and better health for those whom stigma affects," state the authors in the paper.
Research funding for the paper was supported by the Charlotte Ellerston Social Service Postdoctoral Fellowship in Abortion and Reproductive Health. The research project is led by Alison Norris, MD, Department of Population Family and Reproductive Health, The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Health; Danielle Bessett, University of Cincinnati Department of Sociology; Julia R. Steinberg, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco; Megan L. Kavanaugh, Guttmacher Institute; Silvia De Zordo, Department of Anthropology,Goldsmiths College, University of London; and Davida Becker, Center for the Study of Women, University of California, Los Angeles.
Source:
Dawn Fuller
University of Cincinnati
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posted by Should've been grandma on 29 Jun 2011 at 4:50 pm
There are still MAJOR problems with abortion, which is why there is still "a stigma!!" First of all, it is NOT healthcare! It is the opposite of it! Secondly, it IS unhealthy, as there is a CLEAR link between abortion AND breast cancer!! Women are being traumatized by it (although people try to deny it; the mental health community knows AND sees it), which IS negatively impacting these women. My daughter had one & it caused her--and US--extreme distress & NO ONE EVER mentions that!
I think your time (& money) would be MUCH BETTER SPENT on the topic of women being traumatized!!
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posted by Carrots on 1 Jul 2011 at 3:13 pm
You are so wrong on so many levels, should've. Don't dictate to me on how to control my reproductive choices. You state that 'There are still MAJOR problems with abortion' and that there is 'still a stigma'. No kidding, with anti choice zealots hanging out at clinics and taunting women mercilessly about her health care choices -YES IT IS ABOUT HEALTHCARE - its no wonder that some women can be traumatized and feel stigma. But isn't that the anti choice side's motive in the first place? To make women feel bad about having an abortion and being sexual in the first place. Her unplanned preg. needs to teach her a lesson, a kind of punishment for being a slut right? How cruel and ugly we are to each other. By the way, there is NO correlation between abortion and breast cancer--this is a scare tactic from anti-science zealots. Stop believing in these frauds and be kind to your daughter. Shame never works.
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posted by Beverly on 23 Nov 2011 at 1:31 pm
Thanks for putting your opinion out there! The same thing happened to me. I wasn't informed of my son's girlfriend's abortion and it has caused him, myself, the girlfriend as well as others much grief!!!
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