Country.

Perspective.

Social stigma.

Religious stigma.

Nepal [24]

AP.

Stigma and secrecy regarding abortion remain after legalization. Women fear to disclose previous abortions during medical visits, especially if it was an illegal abortion or an abortion outside the gestational age limits. Unmarried women hide the history about previous abortion due to fear to judgment from providers.

Malaysia [29]

W.

Requesting abortion (information and procedure) to providers is difficult for women due to stigma related to abortion.

Women consider abortion as a “sin” and fear people talking behind their backs.

Colombia [20]

W.

The society does not understand the abortion law and has unrecognized and unresolved ethical, medical and legal issues regarding abortion.

Vietnam [19]

W.

Women resort to have an abortion due to social consequences of keeping it. In Vietnamese society, premarital intercourse is considered a shame for both the family and the entire clan.

Ghana [27]

AP.

Social pressure and labelling on doctors who provide abortion leads them to denying or misclassifying it.

Religious beliefs are a barrier both coming from the health personnel and from the community. Churches spread the conception that abortion is bad to the community.

Botswana [13]

W.

The stigma about abortion is related to the association of unwanted pregnancies with irresponsible sexual intercourse and unacceptable promiscuity.

Religiosity influenced the perceptions of women about abortion. The Catholics believe that the soul enters the body after conception, which makes abortion unacceptable at any gestational age. However, women face an ambivalence between their religious and personal beliefs

India [31]

W.

Societal norms and individual attitudes were bot not seen as favorable towards abortion.

Women from other religions were statistically more likely to have a favorable perception towards abortion than Hindu women (p = 0.01).