Research on reproduction tends to focus on women. However, men can be quite influential to women’s reproductive decisions. Past research has found that young men perform a hybrid masculinity in which they can support women with contraception but still eschew responsibility for pregnancy prevention. The proposed research uses interviews with 40 American young low-income men ...Read more >

Elevated rates of teen pregnancy and parenting among youth in foster care (YFC) are well documented. Traditional prevention efforts for teen pregnancy utilize parents, schools, and community-based centers to intervene with youth directly or to support a system in which youth are nested. However, for YFC, intervening through these traditional systems is problematic, as they ...Read more >

Adolescent childbearing is a public health concern with significant consequences for teen parents and their children. As prior teen pregnancy prevention efforts have primarily focused on teen mothers with limited attention to teen fathers, gaps remain in understanding male pregnancy intentions, views of abortion, and influences on contraceptive use. Rigid norms about masculinity have been ...Read more >

Maternal fetal medicine (MFM) physicians work with multidisciplinary teams to diagnose, counsel, and treat women who present with fetal genetic disorders and congenital anomalies. Often, diagnosis occurs at the time of the 18-20 week anatomy ultrasound. If a woman chooses to terminate after having receiving a devastating prognosis, she often faces many barriers. As an ...Read more >

Objectives: To examine the use of abortion services and potential barriers to obtaining care among Asian and immigrant women in the US. Methods: Using vital statistics data from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and population data from the American Community Survey, abortion rates and ratios will be calculated for Asian ...Read more >

Between 2011 and 2014, the number of US abortion-providing facilities declined by 3%, and as of 2014, 90% percent of all US counties lacked an abortion clinic. This lack of clinics increases the costs associated with obtaining abortion care, and the distance many women must travel in order to access abortion services. In 2011, a ...Read more >

Women ages 18-29 years, Black women, and those of low social status have the highest rates of unintended pregnancy in the US. Enhancing our understanding of young Black women’s family planning care experiences is crucial to improving the quality of patient care and health outcomes and reducing reproductive health disparities. When young age is combined ...Read more >

Reports show that teen pregnancy rates have been declining in the US for the past two decades. However, this broad brushstroke statistic does not reflect rural America, specifically rural Missouri. Twenty-two rural Missouri counties have teen pregnancy rates well above the national average of 43 per 1,000 and 14 of those counties saw an increase ...Read more >

Nationwide rates of incarceration for women have increased compared to rates of their male counterparts. Women in jails and prisons across the US are often of reproductive age and disproportionately include ethnic minorities who are less educated and often impoverished, creating one of the most vulnerable populations in our country. Multiple studies have demonstrated high ...Read more >

The majority of Americans believe that women should be able to choose freely between abortion and pregnancy. However, for many women, this ”choice” is simply unavailable. There are a multitude of barriers to abortion access in the US, which in effect, prevent women from making their own decisions about pregnancy. These barriers include the availability ...Read more >