Elsevier

Women's Health Issues

Volume 23, Issue 6, November–December 2013, Pages e329-e331
Women's Health Issues

Commentary
Everything Is Not Abortion Stigma

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.whi.2013.09.001Get rights and content

Abstract

The topic of abortion stigma has caught the attention of researchers and activists working on reproductive health and rights around the world. But as research on abortion stigma grows, I fear that the concept is in danger of becoming so large and all-encompassing that it may mask deeply rooted inequalities. In addition, abortion stigma may be seen as too complex and tangled an issue, thereby leading to paralysis. It is important that we become more precise in our understanding of abortion stigma so that we can carry out better research to understand and measure it, design interventions to mitigate it, and evaluate those interventions.

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Dr. Kumar has served at Ipas since 2002. Her MPH and MA in Anthropology, and her PhD in Anthropology are all from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her A.B. in anthropology is from the University of California, Berkeley.

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Cited by (43)

  • Why does abortion stigma matter? A scoping review and hybrid analysis of qualitative evidence illustrating the role of stigma in the quality of abortion care

    2022, Social Science and Medicine
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    However, the studies included represent a variety of geographical contexts, and the use of qualitative data ensures that the participant's experience is centred in the analysis. Some argue that abortion stigma has become far too all encompassing, obscuring the specificities of the theory, and limiting its use as a tool for health and social justice (Kumar, 2013). Furthermore, using abortion stigma as the organizing principle for research, as we have here, has been criticised in the literature (Millar, 2020).

  • Exploring providers’ experience of stigma following the introduction of more liberal abortion care in the Republic of Ireland

    2021, Contraception
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    Quantitative research in this area should also be conducted throughout Europe to document and compare providers’ experience of stigma and to explore if designated supports for providers may be beneficial. Finally, stigma is only one facet of the challenges related to providing abortion care [28]. Further research in Ireland will add to our understanding of these challenges and will inform the design of possible supports.

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Dr. Kumar has served at Ipas since 2002. Her MPH and MA in Anthropology, and her PhD in Anthropology are all from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her A.B. in anthropology is from the University of California, Berkeley.

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