Abortion in the United States: Identifying Populations That Perceive the Most Abortion-Related Stigma
Abstract
Approximately three million pregnancies in the United States each year are
unintended, and about half of the women who experience an unwanted, unintended
pregnancy obtain an abortion to terminate their pregnancy. However, despite
abortion being a common and safe gynecological procedure, it is publicly
controversial and highly stigmatized. Available research is in agreement that
abortion does not lead to long-term mental health problems; however, there is a
strong and significant association between abortion-related stigma and pre-abortion
depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms. Furthermore, stigma is suspected to vary
based on demographic factors, and understanding these differences may help
further prevent and manage abortion-related stigma.
The present study sought to identify which groups of women were more prone to
perceiving abortion-related stigma. This cross-sectional study utilized the
Guttmacher Institute’s 2008 Abortion Patient Survey dataset, which in addition to
demographic information, it included nine specific questions about abortion-related
stigma (n = 4724). Results demonstrated there is an overall significant mean
difference in the perception of stigma between Hispanic women and non-Hispanic
women, t(4314) = -2.4, p < .05; specifically, Hispanic women perceived significantly more abortion-related stigma when compared to both Black women
and women who identified their ethnicity as Other, F(5, 4310) = 22.2, p < .001.
Furthermore, it was discovered there was no significant difference in the level of
perceived abortion-related stigma for married and non-married women, t(761) = -
.15, p = .88. Results also demonstrated college educated women perceive more
abortion-related stigma than non-college educated women, F(3,4312) = 9.5, p <
.01. Lastly, it was discovered women who obtained an abortion in the first trimester
have a significantly higher level of perceived abortion-related stigma than women
who obtained an abortion in their second trimester, t(4314) = 4.29, p < .001.
Findings from this study will be used to inform reproductive health providers
which populations will benefit most from pre-abortion interventions or resources to
prevent or decrease stigmatization in order to better protect these marginalized
groups from the negative impact of stigma.