Have you ever lowered your voice when talking about abortion—or avoided the topic altogether—because you didn’t want those around you to hear and judge? It’s something many of us have experienced, and it’s abortion stigma in action. 

Around the world, abortion stigma works to shame and discredit those seeking, providing or even supporting abortion—causing needless suffering every day for millions of people. Research we conducted with partners shows that if we could get rid of the abortion stigma that plagues individuals, communities and institutions, we’d be much closer to ensuring abortion access for all. 

Want to learn more? We’ve got a great online resource that walks readers through what a world free from abortion stigma would look like. (Spoiler: People would have pretty much everything they need to access an abortion when and where they need one.) 

Want to do something? One easy thing we can all do is talk about abortion. Stigma thrives on silence. More people need to talk about why abortion access matters. We have some useful posts for this on our Instagram, including this one on how to destigmatize the language we use when talking about abortion. 

If you want to dive deeper, the campaign site for the Global Day of Action to Destigmatize Abortions (which is today, March 28!) offers a helpful collection of resources on how we can all help fight abortion stigma. 

Here’s to building a world free from abortion stigma, one action at a time. 

In solidarity, 

Your friends at Ipas