Enacted abortion stigma in the United States

Area of Science:

• Social Sciences
• Public Health
• Sociology

Background:

• Abortion stigma is a significant issue, yet individual-level experienced stigma remains under-researched.
• Existing research often focuses on anticipated or internalized stigma, not enacted stigma.

Purpose of the Study:

• To document how individuals who disclosed abortions perceived others' reactions.
• To identify determinants influencing these perceived reactions.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of the American Miscarriage and Abortion Communication Survey (N=1640, abortion disclosure sub-sample n=179).
• Cluster analysis of listener reactions to abortion disclosures.
• Multinomial and ordinal logistic regression to identify predictors of perceived reactions.

Main Results:

• Disclosures clustered into negative, supportive, or sympathetic reactions.
• Majority of disclosures received positive reactions (32.6% supportive, 40.6% sympathetic).
• 26.8% of disclosures received negative reactions; 58.3% of individuals perceived only positive reactions, while 7.6% perceived exclusively negative reactions.

Conclusions:

• While most individuals experience support after disclosing an abortion, a substantial minority face stigma.
• Perceived reactions are influenced by the disclosure recipient and context.
• Stigmatizing reactions may negatively impact health outcomes.