Objectives: Recent research from Texas found that self-provided and non-clinical abortions are on the rise, largely due to abortion restrictions. Anecdotal evidence from other abortion advocates suggests that some people seek alternative abortion methods for other reasons. This is the first qualitative study with a geographically diverse North American sample to describe people’s preferences, motivations, ...Read more >

This primary historical research project examines the concept of “unintended pregnancy” in social and cultural context, seeking to explain how such an intimate concept as pregnancy planning became one of the major goals of late 20th and early 21st century US public health. Though women have actively planned and prevented pregnancy since at least the ...Read more >

The mentorship of medical students is vital to the future of family planning research, advocacy and training the next generation of abortion providers. Most previous publications have focused on a clinical family planning curriculum for medical students in their third and fourth years of medical school. In this mid-career mentorship project, I will focus on ...Read more >

The training and research activities proposed in this Junior Investigator Career Development Award will expand my research program in reproductive health for incarcerated women and set the stage for future grants. I will survey a representative sample of prison and jail systems across the US to prospectively report the aggregate number of pregnant women, abortions, ...Read more >

I seek a Midcareer Mentoring Award to achieve my long-term career objectives: (1) reduce unintended pregnancy through interventions that enhance safe contraceptive health care delivery and improve access for disparate populations and (2) foster a cadre of research-scientists working to enhance family planning services in primary care settings. Since 2006, I have mentored 37 trainees. ...Read more >

Objectives: To assess late presentation for care, gestational age, and disparities in traveling for care in Mexico City’s public abortion program, called ILE. To replicate a recent publication (Koch et al) purporting to show that restrictive abortion laws are associated with reduced maternal mortality in Mexico. Methods: We extracted data from clinical charts and used ...Read more >

The recommended treatment for ongoing pregnancy following medical abortion is usually suction curettage. Limited published data demonstrate that additional misoprostol can successfully terminate ongoing pregnancy, but there is no published literature on the repeat use of a combined mifepristone-misoprostol regimen. This randomized placebo-controlled trial seeks to assess the effectiveness of a repeat course of 200 ...Read more >

Objectives: To date, there has been no research on the abortion experiences of Punjabi women in Canada. Based on registry data, available research focuses solely on sex-selective abortion in immigrant populations. Our study aimed to explore and give voice to Punjabi women’s abortion experience in Ontario (ON) and British Columbia (BC). Methods: We conducted four ...Read more >

Objective: Carbamazepine, a known cytochrome P-450 enzyme inducer, significantly reduces serum hormone levels from oral contraceptives. Despite case reports of contraceptive failure with concomitant use of the etonogestrel contraceptive implant and carbamazepine, no studies have explored the pharmacologic relationship between carbamazepine and non-oral contraceptives. We set out to investigate the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic effects of ...Read more >

In 2011, approximately 1.1 million abortions were performed in the US, and 333,964 of these abortions were performed at Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) affiliates. PPFA instated new restrictions on intravenous sedation eligibility during surgical abortion. As of March 2015, affiliates can no longer offer sedation to women with a BMI >45 and women ...Read more >