The Fight against Healthcare Professionals' Stigma of Abortion

DROVETTA RAQUEL IRENE

Dubai

Simposio; 6th Global Symposium on Health Systems Research; 2020

Health Systems Research

This paper examines the stigma of abortion among professionals who are providers of the service, considering, in particular, the time when they joined the Network of Healthcare Professionals for the Right to Decide. This network was created in Argentina at the end of 2014 by a joint alliance of women?s and feminist organizations and healthcare professionals. We have conducted an exploratory study, of a descriptive type, based on a qualitative strategy. From 2016 to 2018, we carried out interviews with healthcare professionals, intending to address the relationship between the stigma of abortion and the healthcare professionals who are members of the Network. The main results indicate that the professionals have changed their perception of the stigma of abortion by becoming members of a group made up of peers among whom there exists homogeneity regarding their goals and objectives in their profession. They admit to gaining confidence to resist stigma indicators, such as a negative self-perception of the job done, the fear of information disclosure, and the silencing of, and detachment from fellow professionals. The experience permits us to show how it is possible to resist stigmatization effects, by performing an active role regarding professional identity.