Annual Research Highlights 2023

Published December 18, 2023

Welcome to ANSIRH's accomplishments for 2023. We are proud to share our major achievements from the past year, including publications, media mentions, op-eds, legal activities, and other highlights.

Publications

In 2023, ANSIRH researchers contributed 60+ peer-reviewed publications to the field. These articles appeared in the most respected journals of reproductive health, global health, public health, and beyond. Below is a list of links to summaries for selected 2023 publications. To access the full list of publications, visit our Research and Tools page and select Research Publications in the right-hand dropdown. 

​Media articles featuring ANSIRH

In 2023, our work was featured in nearly 380+ media articles – a significant number in the aftermath of the Dobbs decision. A few highlights are listed below. Please see our website for a curated list of media articles.

​Op-eds

In 2023, ANSIRH research and expertise was featured in 24 opinion pieces, including op-eds by other authors in The New York Times and Bloomberg. Of these, ANSIRH researchers penned 15 op-eds. Titles and links for these are listed by author below.

Legal and Policy Activities

After the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization to reverse the federal right to abortion care, ANSIRH’s work continued to resonate in policy, legal, and cultural debates. ANSIRH researchers and research were featured in a number of court hearings, legal proceedings, and congressional hearings in 2023:

  • In April, Florida Senator Lori Berman referenced The Turnaway Study in her powerful debate against the state’s six-week abortion ban: "Decisions about abortion should be between a woman, her doctor, and her trusted circle of confidants, not her legislators."
  • In April, Dr. Daniel Grossman testified at the California Senate Committee on Public Safety in support for SB345, which Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law. The “shield law” increases protections for California clinicians providing abortion or gender-affirming care to patients from other states.
  • In May, Dr. Grossman testified before an FDA advisory panel on over-the-counter contraception, where his and others’ testimony helped convince the panel to unanimously vote in support of Opill, and ultimately greenlight it as the first over-the-counter daily oral contraceptive. 
  • In June, the state of Texas quietly passed legislation backtracking from its original near-absolute abortion ban, a move partially informed by the significant press attention of the Care Post-Roe report.
  • ANSIRH participated heavily in the California Future of Abortion (FAB) Council, a coalition providing the legislature and governor with recommendations to make California a “reproductive freedom” state for those living here and those traveling to the state for care. ANSIRH offered letters of support, wrote op-eds, and provided expert testimony for several bills that were signed into law, including some significant protections against criminalization of patients and providers and measures to expand the reproductive health workforce in California.

Other highlights from 2023

  • Our researchers and staff received the following awards and recognitions in 2023:
    • For leading the Turnaway Study, Dr. Diana Greene Foster was named a 2023 MacArthur Fellow by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The University of California, San Francisco’s (UCSF) Academic Senate also announced the selection of Dr. Foster, as the recipient of the First Annual Faculty Research Lectureship in Social, Behavioral, and Health Policy Sciences for her work on advancing new standards in reproductive health.
    • The UCSF School of Medicine selected Dr. Waru Gichane as a 2023 John A. Watson Scholar, an award given to faculty who share the program’s commitment to diversity and health equity, anti-racism, and alleviation of health care disparities. 
    • This year, Dr. Carole Joffe received the Distinguished Emeriti Award from the University of California, Davis, Emeriti Association.
    • Drs. Corinne Rocca, Lauren Ralph, Sarah Roberts, Antonia Biggs, Carol Camlin, Katrina Kimport, and Ushma Upadhyay all received Awards for Outstanding Research Mentorship from UCSF's Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Services.
    • Dr. Lauren Ralph received first place at the 2023 Society of Family Planning Annual Meeting for her poster abstract: “Comparing abortion patients’ self-assessment of eligibility for medication abortion with clinician assessment: Results from a self-selection study.”
    • The UCSF Graduate Division Alumni Association Board of Directors announced Dr. Carol Camlin, as the 2023 Alum of the Year. 
  • Our researchers were featured in 33 radio shows, podcasts, and video interviews, including Dr. Grossman and Dr. Kimport appearing on Amanpour and Co., Dr. Foster discussing her career with the MacArthur Foundation, Steph Herold, MPH, appearing on Scripps News, and Dr. Upadhyay speaking as an expert on NPR.
  • Dr. Lori Freedman published her book,  Bishops and Bodies: Reproductive Care in American Catholic Hospitals, which looks at how policies of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops prohibit abortion, sterilization, contraception, some treatments for miscarriage and gender confirmation in Catholic hospitals nationwide.
  • In March, ANSIRH filed an amicus brief urging the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to consider the safety of abortion and the harmful impacts of abortion denial when ruling on the case, Beatriz v. El Salvador.
  • ANSIRH released a report in May, Care Post-Roe: Documenting cases of poor-quality care since the Dobbs decision, which shows how health care providers have been unable to provide the standard of care in states with abortion bans since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in June 2022. This report documents widespread increased morbidity, exacerbated pregnancy complications, an inability to provide time-sensitive care, and increased delays in obtaining care for patients in states with abortion bans, and has been a major resource for reporters and researchers seeking stories from a post-Roe clinical landscape.
  • In October, New America and the Abortion Onscreen research team released Re-Scripting Depictions of Abortion on Screen, a resource that provides statistics and updated research context for more accurate and more empathetic abortion storytelling in television and film.
  • Two new staff members joined ANSIRH in 2023: Lisa Peters, MPH, Quantitative Data Analyst; and Jessica Hernandez Castaneda, Clinical Research Coordinator.

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