This mixed-methods study explores how Black adolescents use generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT to seek information about contraception and how these interactions shape their critical thinking, credibility assessments, and reproductive health decision-making. As adolescents increasingly turn to AI platforms to ask sensitive health questions, it is essential to understand the accuracy and potential ...Read more >

This computational research project investigates how contraceptive misinformation spreads and amplifies across digital platforms. Using natural language processing and AI techniques, it will: (1) analyze community-specific misinformation patterns across 8 social media platforms (Reddit, Twitter, TikTok, etc.) by examining rhetorical strategies and linguistic distortions in contraceptive discourse; (2) quantify algorithmic amplification biases through simulated AI ...Read more >

Latinas face barriers to accessing comprehensive family planning services, including language barriers, limited access to care, and a lack of culturally relevant health information. These women are also increasingly exposed to contraceptive misinformation and disinformation online. On platforms like TikTok and Instagram, posts often exaggerate risks, stoke fear, and cast doubt on the safety of ...Read more >

Publicly-funded clinics are crucial for providing contraceptive care to individuals facing healthcare access barriers, especially in rural areas of the US. Rural areas experience significant healthcare challenges, such as longer travel times, fewer provider options, and healthcare professional shortages. Current threats to federal funding, from the freezing of some Title X funds to the recent ...Read more >

For over 50 years, the federal Title X program has been crucial in delivering sexual and reproductive health services across the US, particularly aiding low-income populations in accessing family planning care. Numerous studies have highlighted the program’s effectiveness in improving healthcare access and outcomes. However, as political divisions have intensified, Title X has been embroiled ...Read more >

This mixed-methods study will examine how contraceptive care and gender-affirming policies impact contraceptive access and decision-making among transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) individuals in two contrasting policy environments: Washington and Texas. The study will explore how access to hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and gender-affirming surgeries – either restricted or supported by state policy – affects contraceptive ...Read more >

While the 2022 US Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization was about abortion, there is also evidence of its impact on both the demand for contraception and state-level availability of contraception services with the closure of family planning clinics that provided both abortion and contraceptive care. Medicaid is the largest payer ...Read more >

This project investigates contraceptive access within the complex legal landscapes of North Carolina and Virginia through in-depth case studies examining how state-level laws are designed, implemented, and experienced. The selection of these states leverages our established collaborative relationships with clinicians and reproductive health policy experts. While focused on two states, the research utilizes structured analysis ...Read more >

Female permanent contraception (PC, formerly sterilization) is the most common contraceptive method in the US and is often requested during the postpartum period. However, many patients—especially those with public insurance or other markers of marginalization—do not receive desired postpartum PC. In West Virginia (WV), recent policy changes, including heightened abortion restrictions, federal Medicaid rule modifications, ...Read more >

In response to the post-Dobbs policy landscape and the growing cultural and linguistic diversity in South Dakota, three community-based organizations funded by the SFP launched the Pasque Project, a community-driven initiative designed to better understand reproductive health needs in SD. As part of this effort, Pasque Project leaders conducted a qualitative study exploring immigrant women’s ...Read more >