Adaptive choice: Psychological perspectives on abortion and reproductive freedom

Abstract

We explore abortion access, abortion experiences, and abortion stigma. We emphasize global perspectives on abortion diversity and the relationship between pregnancy norms and expectations, abortion stigma, and practical constraints on reproductive freedom. Evolutionary psychological, clinical psychological, and social-psychological perspectives illuminate how abortion decisions are shaped by strategies to optimize survival and success, support services that emphasize the costs and risks of pregnancy termination, and pronatalist norms and punishment of departures from those expectations. We call for future abortion research that integrates multiple subfields in psychology and is rooted in an intention to effect public policy and social change that promotes reproductive autonomy.