Abortion and Social Science

Abortion is a common experience for women around the world; yet it is often excluded from the curricula of health professionals. Our aim is to fill in the gaps left by the exclusion of abortion from mainstream curricula.

This section contains all video lectures and slides relating to sociology, stigma, public policy, and abortion access.

Learning Objectives

After watching these video lectures, learner will:

Articulate who has abortion in the United States and Globally
Describe the historical trajectory of abortion in the U.S.
Define abortion stigma and its negative consequences
Describe key stakeholders’ reactions to Roe v. Wade in American culture
Understand the legal framework regulating abortion in the United States
Describe the health and abortion disparities by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status that limit access

Assessments

Abortion and Social Sciences Questions

Abortion and Social Sciences Answers

Video Lectures and Companion Materials

Abortion and its Multiple Contexts

IERH acknowledges the importance of inclusive language as a component of patient-centered care and we are working to improve our content. Read more here.

Video Lecture Presented by:

Carolyn Sufrin, MD, PhD

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Click here to download this video lecture

Lecture can be viewed with subtitles in Spanish or French. French translation was made possible by the Safe Abortion Action Fund and International Planned Parenthood Federation. Click the Closed Captions button on video lectures to access subtitles.

_{Duden B. The women beneath the Skin: A Doctor’s Patient in Eighteenth-century Germany. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP; 1998.}

_{Ginsburg F, Rapp R. The politics of reproduction. Annu Rev Anthropol 1991;20:311-43.}

_{Institute G. Guttmacher Institute: Home Page. 2015.}

_{Weir L. Pregnancy, Risk and Biopolitics: On the Threshold of the Living Subject. USA and Canada: Taylor & Francis e-library; 2006.}

Abortion and its Multiple Contexts Slide Set

Slide Set from Video Lecture Presented by:

Carolyn Sufrin, MD, PhD

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Click to download Abortion and its Multiple Contexts (pdf)

Abortion and its Multiple Contexts Slide Set

Slide Set from Video Lecture Presented by:

Carolyn Sufrin, MD, PhD

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Click to download Abortion and its Multiple Contexts (pdf)

The History of Abortion in the US prior to Legalization

Updated resources about the legal landscape for abortion access after the Dobbs Supreme Court decision are available here.

IERH acknowledges the importance of inclusive language as a component of patient-centered care and we are working to improve our content. Read more here.

Video Lecture Presented by:

Carole Joffe, PhD

University of California, San Francisco
Click here to download this video lecture

_{Contraception and Abortion from the Ancient World to the Renaissance John M. Riddle | Harvard University Press. 2015 [cited; Available from: http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674168763}

_{Carole J. Doctors of Conscience: The Struggle to Provide Abortion Before and After Roe V. Wade. Beacon Press; 1996. p. 250.}

_{Cates W, Grimes DA, Schulz KF. The public health impact of legal abortion: 30 years later. Perspect Sex Reprod Health 2003 2003 Jan-Feb;35(1):25-8}

_{Paul M, Lichtenberg S, Borgatta L, Grimes DA, Stubblefield PG, Creinin MD. Management of Unintended and Abnormal Pregnancy: Comprehensive Abortion Care: Wiley-Blackwell; May 2009.}

_{Devereux, A typological study of abortion in 350 primitive, ancient and preindustrial societies, 1954.}

_{NY Times, Nov. 21, 1996.}

The History of Abortion Slide Set

Slide Set from Video Lecture Presented by:

Carole Joffe, PhD

University of California, San Francisco

Click to download The History of Abortion (pdf)

The History of Abortion Slide Set

Slide Set from Video Lecture Presented by:

Carole Joffe, PhD

University of California, San Francisco

Click to download The History of Abortion (pdf)

Abortion Stigma: What is it and how does it affect sexual and reproductive health?

IERH acknowledges the importance of inclusive language as a component of patient-centered care and we are working to improve our content. Read more here.

Video Lecture Presented by:

Lori Freedman, PhD, MA

University of California, San Francisco
Click here to download this video lecture

_{Kumar A, Hessini L, Mitchell EM. Conceptualising abortion stigma. Cult Health Sex 2009 Aug;11(6):625-39.}

_{Major B, Gramzow RH. Abortion as stigma: cognitive and emotional implications of concealment. J Pers Soc Psychol 1999 Oct;77(4):735-45.}

Abortion Stigma: What is it and how does it affect women’s health? Slide Set

Slide Set from Video Lecture Presented by:

Lori Freedman, PhD

University of California, San Francisco

Click to download Abortion Stigma: What is it and how does it affect women’s health? (pdf)

Abortion Stigma: What is it and how does it affect women’s health? Slide Set

Slide Set from Video Lecture Presented by:

Lori Freedman, PhD

University of California, San Francisco

Click to download Abortion Stigma: What is it and how does it affect women’s health? (pdf)

Representations of Abortion in Film and Television

Video Lecture Presented by:

Carolyn Sufrin, MD, PhD

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Click here to download this video lecture

Representations Television and Film Slide Set

Slide Set from Video Lecture Presented by:

Carolyn Sufrin, MD, PhD

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Click to download Abortion Representations Television and Film

Representations Television and Film Slide Set

Slide Set from Video Lecture Presented by:

Carolyn Sufrin, MD, PhD

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Click to download Abortion Representations Television and Film

Abortion in the US from Legalization to the 2010s

Updated resources about the legal landscape for abortion access after the Dobbs Supreme Court decision are available here.

Video Lecture Presented by:

Carole Joffe, PhD

University of California, San Francisco

Additional Resource

New York Times: “A Brief History of Deadly Attacks on Abortion Providers.”

Click here to download this video lecture

Lecture can be viewed with subtitles in Spanish. Click the Closed Captions button on video lectures to access subtitles.

_{Angell M. Column: Where are the doctors? USA Today News. 2015 5/15/2012}

Abortion in the U.S. after Legalization Slide Set

Slide Set from Video Lecture Presented by:

Carole Joffe, PhD

University of California, San Francisco

Click to download Abortion in the U.S. after Legalization (pdf)

Abortion in the U.S. after Legalization Slide Set

Slide Set from Video Lecture Presented by:

Carole Joffe, PhD

University of California, San Francisco

Click to download Abortion in the U.S. after Legalization (pdf)

Abortion Rights in the United States Through 2014

Updated resources about the legal landscape for abortion access after the Dobbs Supreme Court decision are available here.

Video Lecture Presented by:

Maya Manin, JD

University of San Francisco

Note: This video lecture was filmed in the summer of 2014. Laws and polices may have shifted since filming.

Additional Resource

Guttmacher, Restrictions by State.

Click to download this video lecture

Abortion Rights in the United States Slide Set

Slide Set from Video Lecture Presented by:

Maya Manian, JD

University of San Francisco School of Law

Click to download Abortion Rights in the United States (pdf)

Abortion Rights in the United States Slide Set

Slide Set from Video Lecture Presented by:

Maya Manian, JD

University of San Francisco School of Law

Click to download Abortion Rights in the United States (pdf)

Turnaway Study: What Happens When Women Are Denied Abortions?

Video Lecture Presented by:
Jody Steinauer, MD, MAS and Diana Greene Foster, PhD

University of California, San Francisco

Click here to download this video lecture

Contextualizing Who has Abortions After the First Trimester

Video Lecture Presented by:

Eleanor Drey, MD, EdM and Dan Grossman, MD

University of California, San Francisco

Click here to download this video lecture

Lecture can be viewed with subtitles in Spanish. Click the Closed Captions button on video lectures to access subtitles.