Alabama has some of the poorest maternal and infant health outcomes in the nation and has been instrumental in politically-charged efforts to restrict access to reproductive rights and services. The 2022 Dobbs ruling led to a near-total abortion ban in Alabama and has potentially exacerbated maternal health crises and healthcare inequities, particularly for marginalized and ...Read more >

We propose a qualitative study, based upon in-depth interviews with maternal-fetal-medicine physicians (MFMs) in three restrictive policy contexts, to understand the impact of state and institutional abortion bans on MFM practices for previable pregnancy complications and how might these deviate from their professional standards of care. Specifically, we ask how MFMs interpret EMTALA in practice, ...Read more >

No-test telehealth abortion care is safe, acceptable, and effective and is one of the few options available for people living in states that ban abortion. Ectopic pregnancy remains a primary source of concern for the telehealth model. Yet, we lack evidence around how ectopics are diagnosed and treated in the no-test telehealth context. We will ...Read more >

This project aims to produce first-of-its-kind population-based evidence of the consequences of abortion bans on pregnancy care for high-risk pregnancies. Specifically, our proposed research will quantitatively evaluate the impact of abortion bans on pregnancy care among high-risk pregnancies following the Dobbs decision using comprehensive state-level monthly hospitalization data from 11 states (7 affected and 4 ...Read more >

Self-managed medication abortion (SMMA) is rapidly becoming a major (and in some cases the only) option for those seeking abortion in states with abortion bans; requests for SMMA in the Southeastern US have increased rapidly since Roe v Wade was overturned. Qualitative research has identified facilitators and barriers to SMMA, but quantitative evidence on how ...Read more >

This mixed-method study will qualitatively and quantitatively analyze calls from a US Hotline that, since 2019, has provided expert advice support to people in the US who are sourcing or managing an abortion on their own. We will evaluate frequency of texts and calls to the hotline by location of caller and conduct thematic analysis ...Read more >

Self-managed abortion is a safe and effective way to obtain abortion services, especially when abortion access is restricted. The use of websites that sell abortion medications is on the rise. Yet, little is known about patients who seek abortion pills directly from these websites and their considerations regarding this option for their abortion care. This ...Read more >

Despite several attempts to restrict abortion post-Dobbs, self-managed abortion is an important option for those seeking abortion care in the US as a result of: (1) increasing geographical and state-level legal disparities in access to and provision of legal abortion, and (2) exacerbation of inequalities in abortion access and care for the most vulnerable and ...Read more >

Individuals living in Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) designated counties experience worse sexual and reproductive health outcomes compared to those in non-Appalachian counties. While legal abortion has always been disproportionately inaccessible in Appalachia, much of the Appalachian region is now without proximal access to clinic-based abortion after the Dobbs court case. Within this unique backdrop, self-managed ...Read more >

This research project will examine the impact of the US Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision on Indigenous people who receive abortion-related financial assistance from the nonprofit organization Indigenous Women Rising (IWR). IWR’s mission is to honor and promote Indigenous people’s right to equitable and culturally safe reproductive health options. Its programs include an abortion fund that ...Read more >