Author archives

Carol S. Weisman, PhD, is Distinguished Professor Emerita of Public Health Sciences at the Penn State University College of Medicine. She is a sociologist and health services researcher who studies women’s health care and policy. She received her BA in Sociology and Anthropology from Wellesley College, and her PhD. in Social Relations from the Johns Hopkins University. She has also served on the faculty of the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Michigan. Dr. Weisman has published over 160 scientific papers and was the sole author of a book, Women’s Health Care: Activist Traditions and Institutional Change (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998). She is Associate Editor of the peer-reviewed journal Women’s Health Issues, for which she served as Editor-in-Chief from 2003 to 2006. She served as Chair of the Board of Directors of AcademyHealth in 2007. In 2011, she served on the Institute of Medicine Committee on Clinical Preventive Services for Women, which helped define services covered by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In 2020 she received the Excellence in Career Mentoring Award at the Penn State College of Medicine.

3 years after abortion rights were overturned, contraception access is at risk

On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization eliminated a nearly 50-year constitutional right to abortion and returned the authority to regulate abortion to the states. The Dobbs ruling, which overturned Roe v. Wade, has vastly reshaped the national abortion landscape. Three years on, many states have severely restricted access to abortion care. But the decision has also had a less well-recognized outcome: It is increasingly jeopardizing access to contraception. Physician scientist Cynthia H. Chuang and sociologist and health services researcher Carol S. Weisman study women’s health care and policy, including access to contraception. They see a worrisome situation emerging.

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Health, Healthcare, Insurance Law, Legal Research, Legislative, Privacy, United States Law