Objectives: The unintended pregnancy rate among active-duty women is 72/1,000 women compared to 52/1,000 women in the general population. Despite this, there is little information about servicewomen’s contraceptive and abortion decision making, use, and access. We sought to understand servicewomen’s experiences accessing contraceptives and abortion care and perspectives on military abortion policy. Methods: Servicewomen who ...Read more >

Objective: To describe common barriers faced by physicians initiating second trimester inpatient abortion services and strategies used to overcome them. Methods: Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with physicians who initiated or attempted to initiate second trimester inpatient abortion services at US hospitals. Interviews explored participants’ motivation and processes for implementing services, logistics of program implementation, ...Read more >

The objective of this project includes determining if the ovarian follicle possesses the capacity to limit the effectiveness of the emergency contraceptive ulipristal acetate (UPA) through the expression of the drug metabolizing enzyme cytochrome P450 3A5 (CYP3A5). Studies conducted through the period of support provided by this SFP Research Fund award included determining the level ...Read more >

There are many safe and highly effective forms of contraception available in the US to prevent unintended pregnancies. These methods also offer short and long-term noncontraceptive benefits. Unintended pregnancy, however, continues to be a public health concern in the US. It is well established that unintended pregnancies are associated with infrequent use and method discontinuation ...Read more >

The proposed study is a randomized controlled trial comparing immediate postpartum to 6 week postpartum etonogestrel implant insertion among adolescent women. This study has received a grant for $20,000 through the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Research Fellowships Program/ Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Research Fellowship in Long Term Contraception. The purpose of this proposal is ...Read more >

Perception of pain during surgical abortion is nuanced and affected by physical as well as psychosocial factors—notably the experience of anxiety—which can significantly increase perceived pain during abortion. It is found that women who suffer from anxiety are more likely to experience greater pain during gynecological procedures. Furthermore, pain management in the setting of gynecologic ...Read more >

Religious hospitals control a growing share of healthcare in the US. In Catholic hospitals, clinicians must follow the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Healthcare Services, which restrict provision of contraception, abortion, sterilization, and fertility treatment. Reproductive health policies in other (non-Catholic) religious hospitals are less well understood. In Chicago, two of the three largest ...Read more >

Abortion restrictions disproportionately impact vulnerable populations. Incarcerated women, despite retaining their constitutional right to abortion, face restricted abortion access due to absent or inconsistent institutional policies, court order requirements, payment restrictions, and other impediments on top of the usual barriers women encounter. The over 210,000 incarcerated women are disproportionately women of color and most are ...Read more >

Objectives: This study explores how legislators use scientific evidence in making policy on two key reproductive health issues: abortion, and alcohol use in pregnancy. Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with state legislators and their aides in three US states that have a mix of policies on abortion and alcohol use in pregnancy. Our questions explored ...Read more >

Our interdisciplinary partnership needs this Society of Family Planning (SFP) Phase I grant to lay groundwork for developing a proof-of-concept contraceptive registry with patients and advocacy organizations as stewards. We propose using a step-wise approach by focusing first on a single medical condition, cystic fibrosis (CF), aiming to create a platform for additional complex medical ...Read more >