reproductive health

Women's Autonomy and Abortion Decision-Making

Even when abortion is legal, women face numerous barriers to access, such as proximity, stigma and, crucially, affordability. We investigate the determinants of young women’s autonomy in abortion decision-making. We develop a model that accounts for bargaining over parental support.

Reproductive and Social Policies, Sociopolitical Stress, and Implications for Maternal and Child Health Equity

We use rich, spatially referenced data from the Performance Monitoring for Action (PMA) individual surveys with detailed information on childbearing preferences and family planning decisions. Building on recent advances in remote monitoring of seasonal agriculture, we construct multiple vegetation measures capturing different dimensions of growing season conditions across varying time frames. Overall, our findings suggest that, in some settings, women strategically respond to growing season conditions by adjusting fertility aspirations or family planning use.

Remote Sensing, Heat, Maternal and Child Health

Extreme heat in combination with land-cover/land-use change (LCLUC) poses significant challenges for sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Climate change is increasing the duration, intensity, and frequency of extreme heat events throughout the region.

U.S. global health aid policy and family planning in sub-Saharan Africa

Existing evidence suggests that abortion rates rise under the MCP, but the direct effect of U.S. funding restrictions on supply and use of family planning has received less attention. By studying PLGHA’s impact on health service delivery providers and women in eight sub-Saharan African countries, we are able to fill this gap. We find that health facilities provide fewer family planning services, including emergency contraception, and that women are less likely to use contraception and more likely to have given birth recently under the policy.

Investigating the Relationship Between Growing Season Quality and Childbearing Goals

We use rich, spatially referenced data from the Performance Monitoring for Action (PMA) individual surveys with detailed information on childbearing preferences and family planning decisions. Building on recent advances in remote monitoring of seasonal agriculture, we construct multiple vegetation measures capturing different dimensions of growing season conditions across varying time frames. Overall, our findings suggest that, in some settings, women strategically respond to growing season conditions by adjusting fertility aspirations or family planning use.

USA aid policy and induced abortion in sub-Saharan Africa: an analysis of the Mexico City Policy

We empirically examined patterns of modern contraception use, pregnancies, and abortion among women in 26 countries in sub-Saharan Africa in response to the reinstatement and subsequent repeal of the Mexico City Policy across three presidential administrations (Bill Clinton, George W Bush, and Barack Obama). Our findings suggest that curbing US assistance to family planning organisations, especially those that consider abortion as a method of family planning, increases abortion prevalence in sub-Saharan African countries most affected by the policy.