Dr. Tamara Kurek is a fellow in Complex Family Planning at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC).  Dr. Kurek’s personal and professional experiences have led to an interest in reproductive rights as they relate to permanent contraception, and subsequently to this project proposal. The US has a long history of forced sterilization, and the Medicaid ...Read more >

Dr. Kendra Harris is the current first year CFP fellow at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School. She completed her OBGYN residency at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN and earned her medical degree from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, TN. As a Black woman, Dr. Harris has experienced first-hand the dearth of Black abortion providers ...Read more >

Approximately 10% of all terminations, whether elective or for fetal/maternal indications, take place in the second trimester of pregnancy. In situations after 16 weeks gestational age, post-procedure maternal lactation may occur, which is not only emotionally distressing to patients grieving a pregnancy loss, but also physically uncomfortable with painful breast engorgement as milk is produced. ...Read more >

One of the most recognized barriers to abortion care is needing to raise the money to pay for the abortion and cover expenses associated with travel. This is particularly true for abortions at the end of or beyond the second trimester of pregnancy when the price of abortion rises and the locations for care are ...Read more >

The Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturned Roe v Wade in June 2022. Yet, despite the absence of the Roe framework, the “viability” standard remains in some state laws and is used by many abortion providers as the cut off for the services they offer. For years, abortion providers have routinely operationalized “viability” ...Read more >

New York State laws have historically been supportive of abortion, and permitted its provision since 1970. The state’s Reproductive Health Act of 2019 allows abortion for any reason as long as the pregnancy has existed for less than 24 weeks and later ‘when necessary to protect a patient’s life or health.’ Even with these supports ...Read more >

Accessing abortion has always been over-regulated and unnecessarily difficult, particularly for marginalized individuals, including young people and those residing in the South and Midwest. Now, the pathway to care has become even more arduous and complicated, forcing many to obtain care further into a pregnancy as they navigate the additional financial and logistical barriers that ...Read more >

Most abortion care occurs through 2 pathways: independent clinics and Planned Parenthood affiliates. A minority of care occurs in hospital systems, most often academic centers. Recently, these 3 pathways have been portrayed as having fraught and competitive relationships, particularly in light of differing approaches to abortion restrictions post-Dobbs (1-3). All 3 pathways exist in Portland, ...Read more >

People need abortion care throughout pregnancy. Most abortions take place in the first trimester, but there is a persistent and irreducible need for abortion care after 13 weeks. Research shows that later abortion seekers encounter formidable barriers to care, particularly related to paying for abortion, and that abortion funds have long played a key role ...Read more >

On June 24, 2022, the US Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in the case of Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization that the US. Constitution does not confer the right to abortion. As of August 2023, 14 states, including Louisiana, have enacted total bans on abortion, and one in three pregnancy-capable people must now travel ...Read more >