The HPV vaccine has the ability to eradicate cervical cancer, but many people are making it to adulthood without completing the recommended vaccine series. A focus of public health efforts has been to vaccinate these patients when they interface with the healthcare system. We recognize the abortion visit as such a time. Education and a ...Read more >

Hemorrhage is the most common complication of dilation and evacuation (D&E). Prophylactic tranexamic acid has shown been shown to reduce maternal mortality from postpartum hemorrhage with no adverse effects, but has not been studied to reduce bleeding complications with D&E. We propose a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled pilot study to determine whether routine use of intravenous ...Read more >

Racial inequities in maternal health, although present over centuries, have worsened in the last several decades. Despite growing interest in racial disparities in maternal health, little research has examined disparities in abortion practice specifically. One of the challenges of tracking abortion complications is the overall low complication rate. Cited complication rates of surgical abortions range ...Read more >

Little is known about patients’ experiences of grief after abortion for fetal indications or pregnancy complications in the second trimester. The typical grief response is a process of expected distress during the acute grief period with a transition to integrated grief marked by the development of healthy coping skills and acceptance of the loss. While ...Read more >

We plan to perform a multi-phase project, using implementation science methodologies, to explore pharmacist provision of medication abortion. We will perform an online survey, followed by semi-structured interviews with pharmacists currently prescribing contraception to identify barriers and facilitators to pharmacist provision of medication abortion. The survey and interviews will explore feasibility, acceptability and appropriateness of ...Read more >

Lifetime intimate partner violence (IPV) among individuals seeking abortion is estimated to be between 26% and 39%. The economic and psychosocial stressors associated with COVID-19 mandatory lockdowns have resulted in increased IPV. The prevalence of medication abortion has increased over the past decade, while surgical abortion has decreased. Yet individuals who are not safe at ...Read more >

This is a qualitative study aiming to understand Latinx individuals’ attitudes, experiences and decision making with abortion. We propose an exploratory study of Latinx women from 3 US metropolitan areas with the largest Latinx population: Los Angeles, New York City and Miami. We will recruit participants using social media and confirm history of abortion prior ...Read more >

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered the rapid implementation of innovations to reduce contact between patients and providers, including providing medication abortions without prior clinical exams or ultrasounds. The No-Test Medication Abortion (NTMA) study team expeditiously formed a cohesive working group and created infrastructure to collect data on patients receiving this model of care. Similarly other service ...Read more >

We request this Society of Family Planning research funding to address two of SFPRF’s priorities in generating evidence for novel abortion services: (1) to what extent does medication abortion with telemedicine shift abortion access for specific US patient populations and geographies? and (2) what are best practices in patient-provider communications related to improving telemedicine service ...Read more >

The requirement of ultrasound to determine gestational age prior to medication abortion remains a common practice and creates an access issue. Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, we began providing medication abortion without an ultrasound to patients with a reasonably sure last menstrual period (LMP) and a low risk for ectopic pregnancy. From our experience and ...Read more >