Society of Family Planning: Between the ban and the ballot: Abortion doulas’ experiences in Missouri’s fluctuating policy environment

Between the ban and the ballot: Abortion doulas’ experiences in Missouri’s fluctuating policy environment

Ri'enna Boyd, MPH, Washington University in St. Louis

In Missouri, abortion access has dramatically changed in recent years. Following the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Missouri enacted a near-total abortion ban, only for voters to pass Amendment 3 in 2024, enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution. Now, a new ballot measure threatens to undo that progress. ...Read more >

Pain and pain management experiences for procedural abortion among patients with sickle cell disease: A community-informed qualitative study

Kayla Blair, MD, MPH, University of California, San Francisco

Patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) who become pregnant are at higher risk of pregnancy loss and maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. Additionally, some studies have found higher rates of unintended pregnancy in this population, which may be due to limited hormonal contraceptive options in the setting of SCD and thromboembolic risks. Due to ...Read more >

Protecting reproductive justice in the misinformation era: A framework for developing clinical interventions to mitigate misleading contraceptive social media content

Alexa Beacham, MPhil, City University of New York

The attack on access to safe, reliable, and effective contraception and abortion care threatens reproductive justice. Access to information about contraceptives, like the IUD, is undermined by the spread of misleading information on social media apps such as TikTok. Repeated misleading content can deter people from making value-aligned family planning choices. While many people view ...Read more >

Successful implementation of medication abortions in internal medicine primary care clinics: A qualitative study

Stephanie Banning, MD, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

This qualitative study examines how U.S. internal medicine physicians have successfully integrated medication abortion (MAB) into primary care practices. Rather than focusing on previously well-described barriers, this research takes a strengths-based approach. Despite medication abortions now comprising over 60% of all abortions in the US, most are still provided by family medicine physicians or OBGYNs—specialties ...Read more >

Zoned out: Canceling abortion through protest and space

Wyndi Anderson, BA, American University

When an abortion clinic opens in a community, what are residents actually responding to? The clinic itself, or the protest activity that follows it? That question drives Zoned Out: Cancelling Abortion Through Space and Protest, a mixed methods study of community opposition to abortion clinics in Carbondale, Illinois, following the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health ...Read more >

From silence to strategy: Amplifying Black Appalachian birthing peoples’ voices in postpartum contraceptive care policy and practice

Ifedolapo Aderibigbe, MPH, East Tennessee State University

Postpartum contraceptive care is often looked at by whether counseling occurred or whether a person leaves with a contraceptive method. This study asks a different question: how do Black birthing people in Appalachian Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia experience postpartum contraceptive counseling, messaging, trust, and access? This provides the opportunity to identify strategies that support ...Read more >

Advancing equitable access to over-the-counter oral pill: Price elasticity, subsidy modeling, and cost–benefit analysis

Wondosen Samuel, PhD, MA, MSc, East Tennessee State University

The FDA’s 2023 approval of over-the-counter (OTC) pill as a daily oral contraceptive represents a transformative opportunity to expand contraceptive access. Emerging evidence confirms that OTC pills are reaching groups who face persistent barriers to prescription-based care, including adolescents, uninsured individuals, rural residents, and people of color (Rodriguez et al., 2025; Schaefer et al., 2025). ...Read more >

Implementing over-the-counter oral contraception in a Medicaid expansion state: Pharmacy practices, utilization patterns, and economic impact in North Carolina

Bianca Allison, MD, MPH, University of North Carolina

The approval of Opill as the first over-the-counter daily oral contraceptive represents a major opportunity to expand contraceptive access, particularly for people who face barriers to clinic-based care. However, early evidence suggests that policy changes alone may not translate into meaningful access. In North Carolina, Medicaid now covers Opill when purchased over the counter, yet ...Read more >

Evaluating implementation of Illinois policies supporting insurance coverage for over-the-counter daily oral contraception

Lee Hasselbacher, JD, University of Chicago

Illinois is among the first states to enact policies intended to improve affordable access to over-the-counter (OTC) daily oral contraception. People with Medicaid insurance and commercial insurance governed by state law should be able to use their insurance to obtain OTC contraception without cost-sharing or co-pays. How well these polies are being implemented and successfully ...Read more >

Young adults’ access to over-the-counter oral contraceptive pills amid diverging state policies

Jennifer Yarger, PhD, University of California, San Francisco

The FDA approved Opill® as the first over-the-counter (OTC) progestin-only pill (POP) in July 2023, offering potential to expand contraceptive access. However, approval alone does not ensure equitable access, particularly for young adults, who may face structural, financial, informational, and psychosocial barriers. Without addressing these barriers, OTC POP may primarily benefit those with existing access ...Read more >