Stigma
"Stigma is like the weather: everyone gets wet."
- Kate Cockrill, The Sea Change Program
A list of organizations working to end abortion stigma:
Organizations
Abortion Conversation Projects is committed to eliminating the stigma of abortion by supporting individuals and small groups engaged in innovative projects that create new ways and opportunities to talk about abortion honestly and publicly.
The Sea Change Program was dedicated to transforming the culture of stigma around abortion and other stigmatized reproductive experiences. They conducted social science research and partnered with organizations to identify, test, and share practices for reducing reproductive stigmas. Now closed, they continue to share a Stigma Toolkit at this site.
IPAS is a global nongovernmental organization dedicated to ending preventable deaths and disabilities from unsafe abortion. Through local, national and global partnerships, Ipas works to ensure that women can obtain safe, respectful and comprehensive abortion care, including counseling and contraception to prevent future unintended pregnancies. IPAS created Abortion stigma ends here: A toolkit for understanding and action to help community members, community health workers, activists and staff of community-based organizations and others address abortion stigma in various settings and contexts.
INROADS: the International Network for the Reduction of Abortion Discrimination and Stigma is a global network of advocates, scholars, health providers, and donors interested in program design, research, and advocacy to address abortion stigma and its negative outcomes.
My Abortion, My Life is a public awareness campaign that challenges the silence and stigma around abortion. My Abortion, My Life is changing the conversation about abortion by creating safe spaces for nuanced and respectful conversation about abortion experiences—and providing resources and tools to help get those conversations started.
Shift: Real Talk on Abortion is a non-profit organization now called the Whole Woman’s Health Alliance supporting abortion access and strategically shifting the stigma around abortion in our culture. Shift will educate and build community power to transform the political and cultural landscape around abortion and reproductive health.
Ibis Reproductive Health is an international nonprofit organization with a mission to improve women’s reproductive autonomy, choices, and health worldwide. Ibis conducts research and projects worldwide on a variety of topics, including abortion stigma.
ANSIRH (Advancing New Standards In Reproductive Health) is a collaborative research group and think tank at the University of California, San Francisco’s Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health. ANSIRH conducts research that explores many aspects of abortion stigma.
The Abortion Care Network represents independent abortion providers who provide most of the abortion care in the US. Stigma reduction is a major goal of this organization and their popular handout "You are a Good Woman" is an important resource for women (now on this site).
