In recent years, the US has seen a decrease in both the number of abortion clinics and annual incidence of abortion. Reasons for this include increased use of long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) methods, closing of abortion clinics, and restrictive laws preventing some women from accessing desired abortions. Recent studies demonstrate that Targeted Regulation of Abortion ...Read more >

Stigma threatens the health of people who need abortion care and their communities directly through transient psychological distress, and indirectly by preventing healthful behaviors such as social support-seeking and utilization of medically safe services. Stigma also underpins public policies that erect structural barriers to abortion care. Over the last several decades, public health researchers and ...Read more >

Though important progress has been made toward advancing women-centered, rights-based family planning since the 1994 ICPD in Cairo, the indicators that we use to evaluate family planning remain stubbornly focused on the pre-Cairo agenda of contraceptive coverage and fertility. The lack of a macro-level indicator that captures what women actually want may create perverse incentives ...Read more >

The 52 mg levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system (LNG-IUS) is a highly effective method of contraception, but its use is often associated with early “nuisance bleeding” which may lead to discontinuation. Many medications have been studied with progestin-only contraceptives such as the LNG-IUS to manage irregular bleeding. The only study to demonstrate a sustained reduction in bleeding ...Read more >

The goals of this study are to assess client preferences and provider perceptions of reproductive intention screening and contraceptive decision-making during primary care visits in New York State (NYS). These goals were developed collaboratively during Phase I using the Delphi Method with over 30 stakeholders, including primary care and reproductive health providers, NYS and City ...Read more >

Texas House Bill 2 (HB2), enacted in 2013, placed targeted restrictions on abortion providers which resulted in closure of more than half of the state’s abortion clinics. Using patient-level data from approximately 60,000 patients seeking care at eight abortion clinics in the state before and after passage of HB2, we will evaluate differences in travel ...Read more >

The obesity epidemic has been accompanied by an exponential increase in weight-reduction surgery. Nearly half of bariatric surgery patients are reproductive age women. While weight reduction surgery is associated with increased fertility, pregnancy in the post-operative period can result in maternal and fetal complications. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Society ...Read more >

Background: Depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA, Depo-Provera) is a progesterone-based drug used for contraception by up to 50 million women world-wide. DMPA has been shown in animals to be a potent down-regulator of the immune system. Autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are related to high levels of immune activation, as measured by analytes ...Read more >

Background: Epilepsy affects an estimated 800,000 women aged 15-44 in the US, making it the most common neurological disorder in women of reproductive age. Informed family planning decision making is a critical component of this population’s overall health and quality of life because some medications used to treat epilepsy can reduce the efficacy of popular ...Read more >

Background and Rationale: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) complicates 3-7% of pregnancies in the US and increases affected women’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The prevalence of GDM is increasing in tandem to rising rates of type 2 diabetes and obesity. Since unintended pregnancy in women with pre-diabetes and diabetes imposes substantial maternal and fetal ...Read more >