The December 2016 issue of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health is a special issue focused on abortion in the United States. 

In the wake of the U.S. presidential election, amid profound uncertainty about the future of sexual and reproductive rights, advocates and their political allies will have to redouble their efforts to limit the damage and try to at least maintain the status quo. One of the key areas of concern, particularly given the multitude of state restrictions enacted in recent years, is abortion. The number of abortions that occur in the United States every year, the scarcity of services, the challenge of reducing levels of unintended pregnancy—all of this is familiar territory. What often gets lost in the statistics and the debate, however, is how the abortion experience plays out for the people involved: the women who need to find affordable services in a timely way, the partners who support them through the process and the practitioners who provide the care. At this critical moment in our nation’s history, Perspectives is proud to present a special issue devoted to these topics. As always, the journal remains committed to the notion that good, solid science is the only appropriate foundation for the policies and practices that affect women’s and men’s sexual and reproductive health.

Please see below for a full list of the contents of this issue:

IN THIS ISSUE (a summary of articles and digests in this issue of Perspectives)

ARTICLES

Doctors and Witches, Conscience and Violence: Abortion Provision on American Television
Gretchen Sisson and Katrina Kimport

Abortion Stigma: A Systematic Review
Franz Hanschmidt, Katja Linde, Anja Hilbert, Steffi G. Riedel-Heller
and Anette Kersting

Utah’s 72-Hour Waiting Period for Abortion: Experiences Among a Clinic-Based Sample of Women
Sarah C.M. Roberts, David K. Turok, Elise Belusa, Sarah Combellick
and Ushma D. Upadhyay

Women’s Knowledge of and Support for Abortion Restrictions in Texas: Findings from a Statewide Representative Survey
Kari White, Joseph E. Potter, Amanda J. Stevenson, Liza Fuentes, Kristine Hopkins and Daniel Grossman

Women’s Pathways to Abortion Care in South Carolina: A Qualitative Study of Obstacles and Supports
Judy Margo, Lois McCloskey, Gouri Gupte, Melanie Zurek, Seema Bhakta and Emily Feinberg

Male Partners’ Involvement in Abortion Care: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review
Anna L. Altshuler, Brian T. Nguyen, Halley E.M. Riley, Marilyn L. Tinsley
and Özge Tuncalp

COMMENTS 

Divergent Successes: What the Abortion Rights Movement Can Learn from Marriage Equality’s Success
Katrina Kimport

Alternative Estimates of Lifetime Prevalence of Abortion from Indirect Survey Questioning Methods
Sarah K. Cowan, Lawrence L. Wu, Susanna Makela and Paula England

DIGESTS 

Room for Improvement Remains in Quality and Scope of U.S. Publicly Funded Family Planning Services

Teenage Pregnancy Risk And Timing Diff er By Sexual Orientation

Mandated State Waiting Periods Linked to Delays In Obtaining Abortion Care

Finnish Study Finds No Associations Between Early Abortion and Adverse Outcomes in Young Adulthood

For Disadvantaged Urban Blacks, Condom Use May Vary with Relationship Type and Partner’s Drug Use

Prevalence of Preconception Care Varies Among Publicly Funded Clinics