According to the National Survey on Family Growth, 8% of women relied solely on coitus interruptus, or withdrawal, in 2014 for pregnancy prevention. Although survey revisions were introduced, this prevalence represented an increase from 5% in 2008. As patients increasingly report the use of withdrawal, providers need to be knowledgeable about the method to counsel ...Read more >

In 2017, medication abortion accounted for 39% of all induced abortions. However, pain remains a predictable and significant feature of medication abortion and is frequently cited as one of its worst features. Given that unacceptable numbers of patients still report severe pain despite currently available options for medical pain management, there is a need to ...Read more >

Community-level abortion stigma manifests when a group of people ascribe negative attributes to people who seek, obtain or are associated with abortion care. Although not well studied, community-level abortion stigma plays a critical role in the social, medical, and legal marginalization of abortion care and is reflected in the amount of support that members of ...Read more >

This qualitative study will explore abortion providers’ perspectives about self-managed medication abortion (SMMA) in the United States (US). Background: Recent studies have documented that 4-11% of ever-pregnant women in the US have attempted to end their pregnancy without formal medical assistance. Further, an unpublished national survey indicates that 23% of women are interested in some ...Read more >

The growing number of abortion restrictions has resulted in significant variation in the availability and accessibility of abortion care in the United States. As a result, many patients are traveling further distances to obtain an abortion. The primary objective of our study was to examine perceived stress levels in patients by distance traveled to the ...Read more >

Emergency contraception (EC) is an important option to prevent unplanned pregnancies after unprotected or inadequately protected intercourse. Little is known regarding provision of EC in the United States, particularly since ulipristal acetate (UPA) was FDA-approved in 2010. The Contraceptive Care Measures are validated population-level contraception measures that were introduced by the US Office of Population ...Read more >

Background       Louisiana has a geographically wide reaching and robust network of school-based health centers (SBHC) that were established “to provide convenient access to comprehensive, primary and preventive physical and mental health services” for adolescents. Louisiana also had the sixth highest rate of teen pregnancy in 2016, as well as some of the highest infection rates in ...Read more >

Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs), also known as Pregnancy Resource Centers (PRCs), or fake women’s clinics are organizations that offer free of charge pregnancy counseling and resources. Studies have documented the inaccuracy of the information that CPCs provide to patients with regards to abortion and contraception counseling. Previous research indicates that between 2-6% of CPC clients ...Read more >

This is a prospective cohort study. We will identify women who present to Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts (PPLM) with pregnancy of unknown location (PUL) who desire medication abortion. For the purposes of this study, PUL will be defined as no intrauterine gestational sac visualized on ultrasound. Women with PUL who are eligible for immediate ...Read more >

We will conduct a qualitative study using a narrative interviewing approach to understand the experiences of abortion among Black women. Specifically, we aim to explore how abortion connects to other aspects of Black women’s lives, both reproductive and otherwise. We will conduct in-depth, face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with Black women in the San Francisco Bay Area ...Read more >