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Juwanna Porras

Oscar Martinez II

ENGL 1302 217

27 March 2024

The Weight of Stigma: The Role of Abortion in Women’s Health

The stigmatization surrounding abortion has not only affected the political landscape with

the creation of restrictive policies but also has led to an increase in judgmental societal attitudes

and perceptions. Today, these deep-set biases have an influence over women’s decision-making

process, mental state, and personal relationships in their everyday lives. Despite the arguments

that convict abortion in a negative light and advocate that abortion affects women’s mental

health, recent research, on the contrary, has shown that prior negative judgments and opinions

are what impact women’s mental health before, during, and after getting an abortion the most.

When politicians address this service, they argue that abortions are the main cause of mental

health disorders in women; therefore, it shouldn’t be legalized, which seems to be more

appealing to society because of the lack of reliable information about abortion presented by

healthcare professionals. This continues to increase the political and societal expectations based

on stigmas about maternity that do not even consider abortion as a health care option. The

constant experience of shame, guilt, depression, and stigma surrounding abortion constantly

affects women, proving the necessity for lawmakers to establish more comprehensive policies

and healthcare services.

The positive correlation between the stigmatization of abortion and mental health issues

While stigmatization has been identified as a potential risk factor that can affect a woman

who had an abortion, not a lot of attention has been directed to how it relates to abortion. First of
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all, it’s important to know that the way people think about abortion does affect a women’s choice

and how they deal with their emotions. According to a study made by Brenda Major et al “the

local and larger sociocultural context in which a woman lives also affects her mental health

following an abortion” (886). Recent research has proven that the psychological disorders that

women present after getting an abortion are mostly because of the fear of being judged by the

society in which they surround themselves. Considering this is important to the understanding

that stigma surrounding abortion does affect a women’s choice and their overall health.

Other researchers like Hanschmidt et al proved this point by explaining that most women

who had an abortion usually experiences fear of social judgement or a need of secrecy. However,

another important factor that is responsible for the creation of stigmas around abortion is

religion. Tricia Bruce explained this after analyzing data from the 2019 National Abortion

Attitudes Study (NAAS) that religion plays a big role in the formation of negative attitudes

towards this topic that affects the sociocultural environment acceptance and treatment of

abortion. The influence of other social factors, like religion, and race affect the different attitudes

towards abortion as society often ignores thanking about this topic which can lead to feelings

guilt, shame or fear of judgment by women. Therefore, recognizing these factors that contribute

to stigma and negative attitudes, society can start crating a more supportive and nonjudgmental

environment for women so they start making more informed choices about their reproductive

health and needs.

Mental health issues on women before and after abortion

Doing research from the mental health perspective is essential when it comes to talking

about abortion, as a lot of researchers use this perspective to advocate against the legality of this

service. For example, Casey Shroeder and Brian Gan argue that mental health illnesses like
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depression do not only affect women who had abortions but also women who decide to carry

their pregnancies. Their arguments proved that the diagnosis of the post-abortion syndrome

(PAS) is very broad and that almost every woman who has an abortion will suffer from it at one

point after considering that the process of abortion by itself is hard because of the socio-cultural

factor. Similarly, Chelsea Oliker investigated the relationship between pre-abortion counseling

and post-abortion adjustment, concluding that women showed better pro-abortion adjustment

after receiving empathic and patient care. The majority of mental health issues around abortion

are based on stigmas and judgments towards this service, and in order to eradicate them, there

need to be more comprehensive counseling services and politics that support women in their

reproductive decisions, regardless of their final choice.

Abortion as the main cause for mental health issues

In most articles that talk about the correlation of mental health and abortion, abortion is

targeted as the main cause for mental health disorders on women which has been proven to some

extent by various researchers. Throughout the years there has been a lot of studies that look for

the direct correlation of abortion and mental health issues, like the study from Gebeyehu et al.,

where they analyzed 15 papers from different databases where the topic of abortion and

depression. Gebeyehu concluded that “[w]omen who experience pregnancy loss often report

feelings of distress and anxiety, which can have a significant emotional impact on both

themselves and their partners” (2). On the results, they found out that women have a 34 to 43%

chance of suffering depression after getting an abortion depending on their geographical

location. Their final discoveries are not surprise considering that abortions have been proven to

increase the risk of suffering mental health issues, especially on women who have a previous

history of abortion. Meanwhile, David Reardon explained when it comes to interpreting data,
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people who don’t support abortion make an emphasis on the risks associated with abortion, while

supporters of abortion and mental health emphasize that there are pre-existing factors that

explain the negative outcomes of abortion. Something that both sides agree on is that abortion is

in fact associated with high risks of mental illnesses compared to women without a history of

abortion, supporting what Carlo Bellini et al. stated in their study that showed that women who

had an abortion also presented a higher risk of having mental health issues after an abortion than

women who didn’t. While these researchers rightfully argue that abortion carries risks for mental

health, they forget to mention the pre-existing mental health issues that women suffer due to

stigmatization. Either way, almost every woman who has an abortion, regardless of the reception

from society, suffers from mental health issues. However, women who come from an

environment with negative judgments about abortion have it worse than women who don’t. That

is why it’s important to create more comprehensive abortion policies that allow women to choose

over their own bodies and to overcome the negative effects of this service that are inevitable

instead of ignoring the stigmas and blaming abortion for severe mental health issues on women.

Comprehensive abortion policies

As mentioned previously, the stigmatization by the society of abortion can negatively

influence not only women’s overall health but also politics. As mentioned previously, the

constant stigmatization of abortion can affect society. However, it also impacts politicians'

actions in negative ways because it can lead to the avoidance of this issue in fear of a negative

response from society. This problem has left organizations that advocate for women’s rights with

nothing else to do but to protest after women’s reproductive rights continue to be ignored. For

example, Mun-Keat Loii mentioned a case where the United Nations had to intervene after five

international charities asked them to act when the U.S. Supreme Court wanted to restrict access
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to abortion, concluding that the approaches used by lawmakers that apparently take women’s

rights into consideration are not actually helping them, but slowly silencing them by violating

their health and reproductive rights. Another study made by Celina Gualdini et al. mentioned that

if politicians focused on making comprehensive and safe abortion care policies, they could

prevent the death of between 13,865 and 38,990 women worldwide women who look for one

will do it regardless of the legality of this service. It’s important to mention that passing pro-

abortion policies is not an easy task, and lawmakers should make sure that these policies include

four dimensions: regulatory framework, abortion policy dynamics, abortion service delivery,

health system, and health outcomes to ensure the safety of abortion. The fact that women

continue to risk their lives while practicing abortion in deplorable conditions due to the illegality

of this procedure and suffer from the harsh judgments of society demonstrate that lack of

empathy from lawmakers to eradicate this problematic. The only way to fix this is by coming up

with abortion policies that ensure safety an access that prioritize women’s health and autonomy

of choice, rather than putting their well-being in danger.

Conclusion

It is evident that the legalization of abortion and the proper implementation of

comprehensive policies and healthcare services will not only increase the well-being of women

but will also prioritize their autonomy by giving them a voice and a choice of their body and

reproductive rights. For that to happen, it is important to eliminate the riskiest factor when it

comes to abortion, which is the constant stigmatization that affects not only the way politicians

address this topic but also society, and therefore, women who sometimes hold their decisions

because of fear of being judged. That is why comprehensive abortion policies, including access

to safe and legal abortion, are fundamental to ensure women’s rights as they avoid the risks of
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unsafe and clandestine abortions that constantly attempt against their lives. Also, providing

proper mental health care services is just as important in supporting women through the abortion

process. The constant stigmatization around this service has allowed women to feel shame, guilt,

and isolation that led to mental health disorders like post-abortion depression, but offering

counseling, support groups, or proper psychological services, as well as abortion policies that

have been proven in other countries to prevent the death of thousands of women worldwide will

allow them to understand their decisions and go through the process with confidence. I still

believe this topic won’t see a concrete answer and will continue to be a topic with different

perspectives and opinions. Either way, the new upcoming information has allowed lawmakers

and society to start caring for women in a genuine and objective way that empowers women and

looks for their overall health and rights.

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Works Cited

Bellieni, Carlo V., and Giuseppe Buonocore. “Abortion and Subsequent Mental Health: Review

of the Literature.” Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, vol. 67, no. 5, 2013, pp. 301–

10, https://doi.org/10.1111/pcn.12067.

Bruce, Tricia C. “Efficacy, Distancing, and Reconciling: Religion and Race in Americans’

Abortion Attitudes.” Religions (Basel, Switzerland), vol. 11, no. 9, 2020, pp. 475-,

https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11090475

Gebeyehu, Natnael Atnafu, et al. “Global Prevalence of Post-Abortion Depression: Systematic

Review and Meta-Analysis.” BMC Psychiatry, vol. 23, no. 1, 2023, pp. 1–786,

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-023-05278-7

Gialdini, Celina, et al. "Multicountry Research on Comprehensive Abortion Policy

Implementation in Latin America: A Mixed-Methods Study Protocol." BMJ Open, vol.

14, no. 1, 2024. ProQuest, https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-073617.

Hanschmidt, Franz, et al. “Abortion Stigma: A Systematic Review.” Perspectives on Sexual and

Reproductive Health, vol. 48, no. 4, 2016, pp. 169–77. JSTOR,

https://www.jstor.org/stable/48576829.

Looi, Mun-Keat. “Abortion: UN Is Urged to Intervene in ‘Human Rights Crisis’ in US after

Ending of Rights.” BMJ (Online), vol. 380, 2023, pp. 521–521,

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.p521.

Major, Brenda, et al. “Abortion and Mental Health: Evaluating the Evidence.” The American

Psychologist, vol. 64, no. 9, 2009, pp. 863–90, https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017497.

Oliker, Chelsea. “The Impact of Pre-Abortion Counseling on Women's Self-Efficacy for Coping

and Post-Abortion Adjustment.” Alliant International University, United States --

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Reardon, David C. "The Abortion and Mental Health Controversy: A Comprehensive Literature

Review of Common Ground Agreements, Disagreements, Actionable Recommendations,

and Research Opportunities." Sage Open Medicine, vol. 6, 2018. ProQuest,

https://doi.org/10.1177/2050312118807624.

Schroeder, Casey, and Brian Gran. "Abortion, Motherhood, and Mental Health: Medicalizing

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no. 1, 2005, pp. 263-264. ProQuest, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-2445.2005.00br4.x.