Aline Vandenbroeck holds a B.S and M.S. in Economics and is a doctoral candidate in Health Policy & Administration at the University of Illinois Chicago. Coming from Belgium—where broad access to contraception contrasts with relatively restrictive abortion laws (including a 12-week limit and mandatory waiting periods)—and arriving in the U.S. just two months after the Dobbs decision, motivated her to explore how abortion and contraception policies shape women’s access to healthcare, health and wellbeing. Aline’s proposed research will combine judicial decision coding and quantitative methods to examine how court rulings reversing or weakening restrictive abortion statutes influence access to reproductive healthcare and outcomes in the United States. Specifically, she will examine whether and how rulings related to parental involvement laws impact teen abortion, pregnancy and birth rates, and rulings related to targeted regulations of abortion providers (TRAP laws) impact abortion clinic availability and healthcare provider density. While some judicial rulings may appear protective, their real-world effects on access and reproductive outcomes remain underexamined. This research fills a critical gap by empirically assessing whether these protective rulings lead to tangible improvements in access and health — or whether structural barriers and political resistance continue to limit their impact. This project will be part of Aline’s dissertation, which examines the impacts of family planning policies on the healthcare workforce, mental and reproductive health.