“Without any indication”: stigma and a hidden curriculum within medical students' discussion of elective abortion

Benjamin Elliot Yelnosky Smith, Deborah Bartz, Alisa B. Goldberg and Elizabeth Janiak

Social Science & Medicine, 2018, vol. 214, issue C, 26-34

Abstract: Pregnancy termination is a common, beneficial medical procedure, but abortion care in the United States is stigmatized. Language, including categorization of some abortions as elective, may both reflect and convey stigma. We present a history of the term “elective” in reference to abortion, followed by data demonstrating its use by a sample of contemporary medical trainees and an analysis of the term's relationship to abortion stigma, medical training, and patient access to abortion care.

Keywords: United States; Abortion; Elective; Reproductive health; Medical education; Hidden curriculum; Stigma (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:socmed:v:214:y:2018:i:c:p:26-34

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DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.07.014

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