Following the transformative U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (June 2022), the Louisiana Abortion Fund (LAAF) stands as the sole abortion fund in a state where abortion is now illegal. Formerly the New Orleans Abortion Fund, LAAF is a pioneering, Black-led community fund in the Deep South, committed to dismantling ...Read more >

Dr. Nandi is originally from the Southeast and grew up in Louisiana and North Carolina. She graduated from Yale University with degrees in Biochemistry and Economics and worked in grants management at the National Institutes of Health prior to medical school. She received her medical degree and her Master’s in Public Health in Epidemiology from ...Read more >

Few effective interventions exist to ease pain during IUD insertion, despite how frequently this procedure is performed in the US. Studies evaluating pharmacologic interventions demonstrate mixed results and there is limited investigation into non-pharmacologic pain control strategies. We propose a randomized controlled trial to assess the utility of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) to reduce ...Read more >

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 >