Beliefs About When Life Begins Matter: Exploring the Role of Life Beliefs on the Relationship Between Abortion Stigma and Support for Fetal Personhood Measures

One of the core tenets at the heart of anti-abortion arguments is that a fetus is a person. Conflicting views on fetal personhood are an integral part of the abortion legality debate. Thus, it is important to better understand individuals’ support for fetal personhood and subsequent fetal personhood measures. Two factors that may impact support for fetal personhood policies are abortion stigma and beliefs about when life begins.

Two samples (N₁ = 300; N₂ = 217) were collected via Mechanical Turk and a large Southeastern University’s undergraduate psychology research participation program, respectively. Participants completed a cross-sectional online survey assessing abortion stigma, support for fetal personhood laws, and beliefs about when life begins.

Moderation analyses showed that life beliefs moderate the relationship between abortion stigma and support for fetal personhood measures. Specifically, individuals with less abortion stigma who believe that life begins at birth support fetal personhood measures significantly less, compared to those who believe life begins at or before conception. However, in the Mechanical Turk sample only, among those with increased abortion stigma, individuals who believe that life begins at birth had more support for fetal personhood policies than those who believe it begins before birth.

Findings indicate that the interaction of beliefs about when life begins and abortion stigma is associated with support for fetal personhood measures. The relationships between beliefs about life, abortion stigma, and support for policies underscore the need to better understand how stigma and beliefs are associated with policy-related behaviors. Combating abortion stigma is necessary as stigma causes undue burden to pregnant individuals. Reducing stigma will ultimately lead to better outcomes for those needing abortions.