The relation between abortion stigma and psychological functioning: exploring the roles of reproductive justice activism and abortion identity centrality

Abstract

Studies have found a strong relation between abortion stigma and psychological functioning, suggesting that the more stigma someone assigns to their experience of an abortion, the poorer their mental health outcomes. Since the reversal of Roe v. Wade, abortion is no longer a federally protected right and many are now at-risk of being unable to obtain necessary abortions and other forms of contraception. As a result, the need for reproductive justice activism is as urgent as ever. At this time, no studies have examined reproductive justice activism as a potential buffer against the effects of abortion stigma on psychological functioning. Studies have examined identity centrality, or how central one’s identity is to their self-concept, as both a potential risk factor and buffer in the relation between stigma/discrimination and psychological functioning; however, identity centrality has not been examined in the context of abortion. The current study further elucidates the relation between abortion stigma and psychological functioning among individuals who have received abortions by examining the moderating role of participation in reproductive justice activism and the mediating or moderating role of identity centrality. A key finding was the presence of moderated mediation demonstrating that at low and average levels of reproductive justice activism, abortion stigma predicted higher identity centrality, subsequently leading to lower well-being; at high levels of activism, identity centrality was unrelated to well-being. Implications are discussed.