Women's Health Issues' new supplement highlights abortion, reproductive health research

The Editors of Women's Health Issues, the peer-reviewed journal of the Jacobs Institute of Women's Health at The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (GW), are pleased to announce the publication of a new Supplement entitled, Abortion, Reproductive Rights and Health: Highlights from the Charlotte Ellertson Social Science Postdoctoral Fellowship 2003-2010. This May/June 2011 supplement, with support from Ibis Reproductive Health (www.ibisreproductivehealth.org) and guided by Guest Editors Wendy Chavkin, MD, MPH, and Jane Williamson, MLS, MS, features the work of an exciting group of social scientists and public health researchers who study abortion and reproductive health and rights.

"The research published in this timely Supplement provides new data and new perspectives on abortion and reproductive health both here in the U.S. and around the globe," said Susan F. Wood, PhD, Associate Professor and Director of the Jacobs Institute of Women's Health at GW.

The authors were part of an innovative postdoctoral program, the Charlotte Ellertson Social Science Postdoctoral Fellowship in Abortion and Reproductive Health, which supported the development of a new generation of researchers dedicated to high quality research on abortion. From 2003-2010, 14 Ellertson Fellows received salary support, mentoring and communications and advocacy training to develop research projects that would inform abortion and reproductive health policy and further their careers in abortion research. The WHI Supplement features 13 peer-reviewed original articles, with contributions from every fellow that participated in the program.

"It is important to continue to support the scholars whose work is published in this Supplement, as well as others who are interested in studying abortion and reproductive health. The scholarly findings from this work serve to inform policy makers as they continue to make critical decisions in this arena - decisions that will affect the health of women today and in the future," added Anne R. Markus, JD, PhD, MHS, Associate Professor in the GW Department of Health Policy and Editor-in-Chief of Women's Health Issues.

Social science and public health research on abortion is critically important to inform and evaluate abortion service-delivery and policy. Findings from U.S. and international research on how policies impact women and families, how and why providers offer services, the quality and acceptability of services, and barriers to access and information show where policies are not meeting women's needs and how those policies should be changed to enable women and families to live healthy and satisfying sexual and reproductive lives. Because of the U.S. and international political battles and stigma surrounding abortion, high-quality research has not received sufficient funding or attention—work published in this Supplement provides scholarly perspectives on abortion as a critical topic for social science researchers and as a catalyst to the issue across social science disciplines.

"This remarkable collection of scholarship comes at a pivotal moment in U.S. health policy and the future of abortion rights," said Sara Rosenbaum, JD, Hirsh Professor of Health Law and Policy and Chair, GW Department of Health Policy.

Source: George Washington University Medical Center