Katrina Kimport, PhD

Katrina Kimport, PhD is a qualitative medical sociologist whose research focuses on gender, health and reproduction. Dr. Kimport's research engages two central themes: understanding women’s personal and social experience of abortion and contraception; and investigating the political and cultural negotiation of controversial social issues related to sexuality and health. Her current research examines the impacts of state abortion bans on women who experienced obstetric emergencies or serious fetal health diagnoses. Dr. Kimport has published over 90 peer-reviewed articles. She is the editor of When Roe Fell: How Barriers, Inequities, and Systemic Failures of Justice in Abortion Became Visible (2025, Rutgers University Press), author of No Real Choice: How Culture and Politics Matter for Reproductive Autonomy (2022, Rutgers University Press) and Queering Marriage: Challenging Family Formation in the United States (2014, Rutgers University Press, Winner of the Charles Tilly Best Book Award), and co-author, with Dr. Jennifer Earl, of Digitally Enabled Social Change (2011, MIT Press, Honorable Mention for CITASA Best Book Award). Dr. Kimport received her BA from Yale University and her PhD from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

For a full list of Dr. Kimport's publications, awards, and presentations, click here.

Citations

Kimport K, Schroeder R, Rocca CH. Caller Volume and Gestational Length at an Abortion Fund After Dobbs. Jama Network Open. December 2025; https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.46508.
Kimport K, Kaller S. Not actively dying: An inductive categorization of obstetric cases negatively affected by post-Dobbs abortion bans. Contraception. July 2025; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.contraception.2025.111043.
Joffe C, Kimport K. Caring for Pregnancy-Related Emergencies after Dobbs. Journal of Women's Health. June 2025; https://doi.org/10.1089/jwh.2024.0589.
Henderson JT, Ramanadhan S, Kimport K, Foster AM, Paynter RA, Sheridan R, Noyes J. The experiences and perspectives of abortion seekers who travel for care: a qualitative evidence synthesis. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. October 2024; https://doi.org/ 10.1002/14651858.CD015565.
Kimport K, Weitz T. Regulating Abortion Later in Pregnancy: Fetal-Centric Laws and the Erasure of Women's Subjectivity. Journal of Health Politics Policy and Law. August 2024; https://doi.org/10.1215/03616878-11516772.
Kimport K, Weitz T. Abortion as a sociological case. Sociological Forum. February 2024; https://doi.org/10.1111/socf.12988.
Kimport K, McReynolds-Pérez J, Bercu C, Cisternas C, Salamea EW, Zurbriggen R, Moseson H. The pleasure, joy and positive emotional experiences of abortion accompaniment after 17 weeks’ gestation. Culture Health & Sexuality. December 2023; https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2023.2287720.
McReynolds-Pérez J, Kimport K, Bercu C, Cisternas C, Salamea EW, Zurbriggen R, Moseson H. Ethics of Care Born in Intersectional Praxis: A Feminist Abortion Accompaniment Model. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society. October 2023; https://doi.org/10.1086/725843.
Bennett AH, Marshall C, Kimport K, Deardorff J, Gomez AM. "Have you ever wanted or needed an abortion you did not get?" Data from a 2022 nationally-representative online survey in the United States. Contraception. March 2023; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.contraception.2023.110007.
Kimport K, Kreitzer R. Introduction: The Politics of Abortion 50 Years after Roe. Journal of Health Politics Policy and Law. January 2023; https://doi.org/10.1215/03616878-10451382.
Kimport K, Maryani Palupy Rasidjan, PhD. Exploring the emotional costs of abortion travel in the United States due to legal restriction. Contraception. January 2023; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.contraception.2023.109956.
Ehrenreich K, Kimport K. Prenatal Care as a Gateway to Other Health Care: A Qualitative Study. Women's Health Issues. October 2022; DOI: 10.1016/j.whi.2022.08.006.
Kimport K. Abortion after Dobbs: Defendants, denials, and delays. Science Advances. September 2022; DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.ade5327.
Kimport K, Landau C, Sella S. Making a third-trimester abortion referral: Learning from patients. Patient Education and Counseling. July 2022; DOI: 10.1016/j.pec.2022.07.011.
Kimport K. Choosing Abortion for a Serious Fetal Health Issue: From Medical Information to Values. Contemporary Perspectives in Family Research. June 2022; DOI: 10.1108/S1530-353520220000019006.
J Varshney, Kimport K. Patients’ perspectives on clinical responses to primary dysmenorrhea: a qualitative analysis of online narratives. Women's Reproductive Health. June 2022; DOI: 10.1080/23293691.2022.2081292.
Kimport K. Men’s reproductive health, non-knowledge, and the opportunity to conceptualize a medical specialty in reproduction that isn’t premised on gender. Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews. May 2022; DOI: 10.1177/00943061221090.
Kimport K. Is third-trimester abortion exceptional? Two pathways to abortion after 24 weeks of pregnancy in the United States. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. April 2022; DOI: 10.1363/psrh.12190.
Kimport K, McLemore MR. The Problem with “Justifying” Abortion: Why Real Reproductive Justice Cannot Be Achieved by Theorizing the Legitimacy of Abortion. Women's Reproductive Health. January 2022; DOI: 10.1080/03610926.2021.1999587.
Kimport K. Reducing the burdens of forced abortion travel: Referrals, financial and emotional support, and opportunities for positive experiences in traveling for third-trimester abortion care. Social Science & Medicine. December 2021; 293:114667. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114667.
Bercu C, Moseson H, McReynolds-Pérez J, Salamea EW, Grosso B, Trpin M, Zurbriggen R, Cisternas C, Meza M, Diaz V, Kimport K. In-person later abortion accompaniment: a feminist collective-facilitated self-care practice in Latin America. 29:3, DOI: 10.1080/26410397.2021.2009103. December 2021.
Kimport K, Littlejohn KE. Abortion as obtainable: Insights into how pregnant people in the United States who considered abortion understand abortion availability. Contraception. September 2021; DOI: 10.1016/j.contraception.2021.09.012.
Kimport K, Littlejohn KE. What are We Forgetting? Sexuality, Sex, and Embodiment in Abortion Research. Journal of Sex Research. June 2021; 1-11. [Epub ahead of print].
Berglas NF, Kimport K, Mays A, Kaller S, Biggs MA. "It's worked well for me": Young women's reasons for choosing lower-efficacy contraceptive methods. Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology. January 2021; [Epub ahead of print].
Rocca CH, Moseson H, Gould H, Foster DG, Kimport K. Emotions over five years after denial of abortion in the United States: Contextualizing the effects of abortion denial on women's health and lives. Social Science & Medicine. November 2020; 113567.
Roberts SCM, Kimport K. A qualitative exploration of women's experiences discovering pregnancies in the emergency department. Contraception: X. April 2020; 2:100024.
Kimport K. Pregnant Women's Reasons for and Experiences of Visiting Antiabortion Pregnancy Resource Centers. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. March 2020; 52(1):49-56.
Holt K, Kimport K, Kuppermann M, Fitzpatrick J, Steinauer JE, Dehlendorf C. Patient-provider communication before and after implementation of the contraceptive decision-support tool My Birth Control. Patient Education and Counseling. February 2020; 103(2):315-320.
Roberts SCM, Berglas NF, Kimport K. Complex situations: Economic insecurity, mental health, and substance use among pregnant women who consider – but do not have – abortions. PLOS One. January 2020; https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0226004.
Rocca CH, Samari G, Foster DG, Gould H, Kimport K. Emotions and decision rightness over five years following an abortion: An examination of decision difficulty and abortion stigma. Social Science & Medicine. January 2020; 248(2020):112704.
Berglas NF, Kimport K, Williams V, Mark K, Roberts SCM. The Health and Social Service Needs of Pregnant Women Who Consider but Do Not Have Abortions. Women's Health Issues. September 2019; 29(5)364–369.
Dehlendorf C, Reed R, Fitzpatrick J, Kuppermann M, Steinauer JE, Kimport K. A mixed methods study of provider perspectives on My Birth Control: a contraceptive decision support tool designed to facilitate shared decision making. Contraception. August 2019; 100(5):420-423.
Vilkin E, Einhorn L, Satyanarayana S, Eisu A, Kimport K, Flentje A. Elementary Students’ Gender Beliefs and Attitudes Following a 12-Week Arts Curriculum Focused on Gender. Journal of LGBT Youth. May 2019; 17(1):70-88.
Kimport K. Pregnant Women's Experiences of Crisis Pregnancy Centers: When Abortion Stigmatization Succeeds and Fails. Symbolic Interaction. March 2019; 42(4):618-639.
Kimport K, Doty C. Interpreting the Truth: How People Make Sense of New Information about Abortion. Women's Health Issues. March 2019; 29(2):182-187.
Biggs MA, Kimport K, Mays AR, Kaller S, Berglas NF. Young Women’s Perspectives about the Contraceptive Counseling Received During their Emergency Contraception Visit. Women's Health Issues. March 2019; 29(2):170–175.
Kimport K, Johns NE, Upadhyay UD. Coercing Women’s Behavior: How a Mandatory Viewing Law Changes Patients’ Preabortion Ultrasound Viewing Practices. Journal of Health Politics Policy and Law. December 2018; 43(6):941-960.
Kimport K. More than a Physical Burden: Women’s Mental and Emotional Work in Preventing Pregnancy. Journal of Sex Research. November 2018; 55(9):1096-1105.
Roberts SCM, Kimport K, Kriz R, Holl J, Mark K, Williams V. Consideration of and Reasons for Not Obtaining Abortion Among Women Entering Prenatal Care in Southern Louisiana and Baltimore, Maryland. Journal of Sexuality Research and Social Policy. October 2018; https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-018-0359-4.
Foster DG, Biggs MA, Gipson JD, Kimport K, Rocca CH. Comparison of Health, Development, Maternal Bonding, and Poverty Among Children Born After Denial of Abortion vs After Pregnancies Subsequent to an Abortion. JAMA Pediatrics. September 2018; 172(11):1053-1060.
Kimport K, Kriz R, Roberts SCM. The prevalence and impacts of crisis pregnancy center visits among a population of pregnant women. Contraception. June 2018; 98:69-73.
Kimport K. Talking about male body-based contraceptives: The counseling visit and the feminization of contraception. Social Science & Medicine. February 2018; 201:44-50.
Kimport K, Johns N, Upadhyay UD. Women's experiences of their pre-abortion ultrasound image printout. Contraception. December 2017; 97(4):319-323.
Littlejohn KE, Kimport K. Contesting and Differentially Constructing Uncertainty: Negotiations of Contraceptive Use in the Clinical Encounter. Journal of Health and Social Behavior. October 2017; 58(4):442-454.
French VA, Steinauer JE, Kimport K. What Women Want from Their Health Care Providers about Pregnancy Options Counseling: A Qualitative Study. Women's Health Issues. September 2017; 27(6):715-720.
Kimport K, Rowland B. Taking Insurance in Abortion Care: Policy, Practices, and the Role of Poverty. Research in the Sociology of Health Care: Health and Health Care Concerns Among Women and Racial and Ethnic Minorities. August 2017; Emerald Publishing, 2017. 39-5.
Upadhyay UD, Kimport K, Belusa E, Johns N, Laube D, Roberts SCM. Evaluating the impact of a mandatory pre-abortion ultrasound viewing law: A mixed methods study. PLOS One. June 2017; https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0178871.
Ralph LJ, Foster DG, Kimport K, Turok DK, Roberts SCM. Measuring decisional certainty among women seeking abortion. Contraception. March 2017; 95(3):269–278.
Kimport K, Dehlendorf C, Borrero S. Patient-Provider Conversations about Sterilization: A Qualitative Analysis. Contraception. March 2017; 95(3):227-233.
Sisson G, Kimport K. Depicting abortion access on American television, 2005–2015. Feminism & Psychology. February 2017; 27(1):56-71.
Kimport K. Divergent Successes: What the Abortion Rights Movement Can Learn from Marriage Equality's Success. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. December 2016; 48(4):221-227.
Sisson G, Kimport K. Doctors and Witches, Conscience and Violence: Abortion Provision on American Television. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. December 2016; 48(4):161-168.
Kimport K, Weitz TA, Freedman LR. The Stratified Legitimacy of Abortions. Journal of Health and Social Behavior. November 2016; 57(4):03-516.
Sisson G, Kimport K. Facts and fictions: Characters seeking abortion on American television, 2005–2014. Contraception. May 2016; 93(5):446-51.
Kimport K, Dockray JP, Dodson S. What women seek from a pregnancy resource center. Contraception. April 2016; 94(2):168–172.
Markens S, Kimport K, Halfmann D, Price K, Rohlinger DA. The Unborn and the Undead. Contexts. April 2016; 15, no. 1 (2016): 12-21.
Sisson G, Kimport K. After Tiller: the impact of a documentary film on understandings of third-trimester abortion. Culture Health & Sexuality. December 2015; 18(6):695-709.
Gubrium AC, Mann ES, Borrero S, Dehlendorf C, Fields J, Geronimus AT, Gomez AM, Harris LH, Higgins JA, Kimport K, Luker K, Luna Z, Mamo L, Roberts D, Romero D, Sisson G. Realizing Reproductive Health Equity Needs More Than Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC). American Journal of Public Health. September 2015; 106(1):18-19.
Kimport K, Weitz TA. Constructing the meaning of ultrasound viewing in abortion care. Sociology of Health and Illness. July 2015; 37(6):856-869.
Rocca CH, Kimport K, Roberts SCM, Gould H, Neuhaus J, Foster DG. Decision Rightness and Emotional Responses to Abortion in the United States: A Longitudinal Study. PLOS One. July 2015; 10(7):e0128832.
Dehlendorf C, Kimport K, Levy K, Steinauer JE. A Qualitative Analysis of Approaches To Contraceptive Counseling. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. December 2014; 46(4):233-40.
Kimport K, Weitz TA, Foster DG. Beyond Political Claims: Women’s Interest In and Emotional Response to Viewing Their Ultrasound Image in Abortion Care. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. December 2014; 46(4):185-91.
Kimport K. Book Review: The Foetal Condition: A Sociology of Engendering and Abortion by Luc Boltanski. Gender & Society. August 2014; 28(4):645-647.
Sisson G, Kimport K. Telling stories about abortion: abortion-related plots in American film and television, 1916–2013. Contraception. May 2014; 89(5):413-8.
Roberts SCM, Gould H, Kimport K, Weitz TA, Foster DG. Out-of-Pocket Costs and Insurance Coverage for Abortion in the United States. Women's Health Issues. March 2014; (24)2:e211-218.
Gatter M, Kimport K, Foster DG, Weitz TA, Upadhyay UD. Relationship Between Ultrasound Viewing and Proceeding to Abortion. Obstetrics & Gynecology. January 2014; 123(1):81-87.
Jesudason S, Kimport K. Decentering the Individual and Centering Community. Frontiers: A Journal of Women's Studies. December 2013; 34(3):213-225.
Kimport K, Foster DG. Who Seeks Abortion at or After 20 Weeks?. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. December 2013; 45(4):210-218.
Kimport K. Queering Marriage: Challenging Family Formation in the United States. Rutgers University Press. November 2013.
Kimport K, Upadhyay UD, Foster DG, Gatter M, Weitz TA. Patient Viewing of the Ultrasound Image Prior to Abortion. Contraception. November 2013; 88(5): 666-670.
Rocca CH, Kimport K, Gould H, Foster DG. Women’s Emotions One Week After Receiving or Being Denied an Abortion in the United States. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. September 2013; 45(3):122-31.
Kimport K. Marrying for the Kids: Gender, Sexual Identity, and Family in Same-sex Marriage. In Marla H. Kohlman, Dana B. Krieg, Bette J. Dickerson (ed.) Notions of Family: Intersectional Perspectives (Advances in Gender Research, Volume 17), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp.67-88. 2013.
Foster DG, Kimport K, Gould H, Roberts SCM, Weitz TA. Effect of abortion protesters on women’s emotional response to abortion. Contraception. January 2013; 87(1):81-7.
Kimport K. Remaking the White Wedding? Same-Sex Wedding Photographs’ Challenge to Symbolic Heteronormativity. Gender & Society. December 2012; 26(6):874-899.
Weitz TA, Kimport K. A Need to Change Our Thinking about ‘Repeat’ Abortions. Contraception. December 2012; 71(8):616-23.
Kimport K, Preskill F, Cockrill K, Weitz TA. Women’s Perspectives on Ultrasound Viewing in the Abortion Care Context. Women's Health Issues. November 2012; 22(6):e513-e517.
Foster DG, Gould H, Kimport K. How women anticipate coping after an abortion. Contraception. July 2012; 86(1):84-90.
Kimport K. (Mis)Understanding Abortion Regret. May 2012.
Kimport K. (Mis)Understanding Abortion Regret. Symbolic Interaction. May 2012; 35(2):105–122.
Kimport K, Cockrill K, Weitz TA. Analyzing the impacts of abortion clinic structures and processes: a qualitative analysis of women's negative experience of abortion clinics. Contraception. February 2012; 85(2):204-10.
Kimport K. Organizational Dominance and its Consequences in the Online Abortion Rights and Antiabortion Movements. In Jennifer Earl, Deana A. Rohlinger (ed.) Media, Movements, and Political Change (Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change, Volume 33), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp.139-161. 2012.
Kimport K, Perrucci A, Weitz TA. Addressing the Silence in the Noise: How Abortion Support Talklines Meet Some Women’s Needs for Non-Political Discussion of Their Experiences. Women & Health. December 2011; (online).
Kimport K, Weitz TA. An upside to regret? Understanding emotional responses following abortion. July 2011.
Kimport K, Foster K, Weitz TA. Social Sources of Women’s Emotional Difficulty After Abortion: Lessons from Women’s Abortion Narratives. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. June 2011; 43:103–109.
Kimport K, Cockrill K, Weitz TA. Analyzing the impacts of abortion clinic structures and processes: A qualitative analysis of women’s experience of abortion clinics. April 2011.
Earl J, Kimport K. Digitally Enabled Social Change: Activism in the Internet Age. MIT Press. March 2011.