Advisory board and staff

Advisory board members

Amanda Allen, JD

Senior Counsel & Managing Director, The Lawyering Project

Kelly Blanchard, MSc

President, Ibis Reproductive Health

Talcott Camp, JD

Deputy Director, ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project

Eleanor Drey, MD, EdM

Medical Director, Women's Options Center of San Francisco General Hospital

Associate Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco

Diana Greene Foster, PhD

Director of Research, ANSIRH

Associate Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco

Dan Grossman, MD

Director, ANSIRH

Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco

Lisa Harris, MD, PhD

Associate Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology and Women's Studies, University of Michigan

Alicia Luchowski, MPH

Director, Health Care for Underserved Women / LARC Program, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

Jon O'Brien

President, Catholics for Choice

Willie Parker, MD, MPH, MSc

Associate Medical Director, Family Planning Associates Chicago

Board Member, Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health

Maureen Paul, MD, MPH, MSc

Associate Clinical Professor, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine

Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Matt Reeves, MD, MPH

Medical Director, National Abortion Federation

Sarah Roberts, DrPH, MPH

Public Health Social Scientist, ANSIRH

Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco

Aimee Thorne-Thomsen, MPA

Vice President for Strategic Partnerships, Advocates for Youth

Deborah VanDerhei

National Director, Consortium of Planned Parenthood Abortion Providers (CAPS)

Staff

Susan Yanow, MSW

Coordinator, Later Abortion Initiative

Sruthi Chandrasekaran, MSc

Senior Project Manager, Ibis Reproductive Health

Laura Fix, MSW

Project Manager, Ibis Reproductive Health

Yves-Yvette Young, MPH

Project Manager, Ibis Reproductive Health

Current events

Legislative update:

On April 4, 2018, the Center for Reproductive Rights filed an amended complaint in US District Court to challenge several abortion restrictions in Mississippi, including HB 1510, signed into law on March 19, 2018, by Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant in order to ban abortion at 15 weeks LMP. This legislation passed in the state legislature in early March, and would allow abortion after 15 weeks only in cases of "severe fetal anomaly" or "medical emergency" for the pregnant person. It does not include exceptions for rape or incest. Mississippi previously allowed abortion up to 20 weeks LMP. Lawyers for the sole abortion clinic in Mississippi, Jackson Women's Health Organization, filed a lawsuit against the state to stop the new legislation from going into effect, and a federal judge granted a temporary, 10-day, block of the law while the legal action is reviewed by the court. While the new complaint is considered the law remains blocked.

Research update:

Social work researchers from SUNY Buffalo and Texas Christian University published results of a secondary data analysis of 3,999 cases between 2010-2015 that were funded by a national abortion fund. The study titled The undue burden of paying for abortion: An exploration of abortion fund cases, was published in the February issue of the Social Work and Health Care journal. Results revealed that during this period, the average cost of an abortion procedure was over $2,000 and that requests for financial assistance to fund later abortion procedures had increased.

Media update:

Cosmopolitan Magazine details the problematic use of medically inaccurate language to discuss abortion that occurs after the first trimester. Time features the personal experience of a woman who needed abortion care during the 20th week of her pregnancy following the diagnosis of a fetal abnormality.

Projects update:

The Initiative has begun to execute a robust work plan of activities around later abortion policies, clinical improvements, service delivery, referrals, and communications. Newsletters have been distributed. A research agenda has been developed with topics on the improvement of access and service delivery. A preliminary analysis has been performed to identify locations for service expansion.

Projects update

Item content:

Project

Later Abortion Initiative

A project of Ibis Reproductive Health

Advisory board and staff

Advisory board members

Amanda Allen, JD

Kelly Blanchard, MSc

Talcott Camp, JD

Eleanor Drey, MD, EdM

Diana Greene Foster, PhD

Dan Grossman, MD

Lisa Harris, MD, PhD

Alicia Luchowski, MPH

Jon O'Brien

Willie Parker, MD, MPH, MSc

Maureen Paul, MD, MPH, MSc

Matt Reeves, MD, MPH

Sarah Roberts, DrPH, MPH

Aimee Thorne-Thomsen, MPA

Deborah VanDerhei

Staff

Susan Yanow, MSW

Sruthi Chandrasekaran, MSc

Laura Fix, MSW

Yves-Yvette Young, MPH

Projects update

About the Initiative

A note on terminology and “late-term abortion”

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Advisory board and staff

Advisory board members

Amanda Allen, JD

Kelly Blanchard, MSc

Talcott Camp, JD

Eleanor Drey, MD, EdM

Diana Greene Foster, PhD

Dan Grossman, MD

Lisa Harris, MD, PhD

Alicia Luchowski, MPH

Jon O'Brien

Willie Parker, MD, MPH, MSc

Maureen Paul, MD, MPH, MSc

Matt Reeves, MD, MPH

Sarah Roberts, DrPH, MPH

Aimee Thorne-Thomsen, MPA

Deborah VanDerhei

Staff

Susan Yanow, MSW

Sruthi Chandrasekaran, MSc

Laura Fix, MSW

Yves-Yvette Young, MPH

A note on terminology and “late-term abortion”