Our work

RISE supports research exploring reproductive health and equity in the U.S. Southeast, conducted in partnership with community-based, advocacy and direct service organizations.

2024–2025 Research Projects

Abortion in Georgia from 2010–2022: Assessing trends and inequities in abortion incidence in the context of multiple restrictive abortion policies and the
COVID-19 Pandemic

Using Induced Termination of Pregnancy (ITOP) data from the Georgia Department of Public Health, this project explores abortion incidence and inequities surrounding abortion policy and practice disruptions (e.g., 22-week abortion ban, COVID-19 Pandemic, hyper-restrictive early abortion ban) over the last 13 years.

The ALIGN Study: Abortion legislation insights from Georgians with nuanced beliefs

This study, led by Amplify Georgia Collaborative, qualitatively explores abortion policy views among people with moderate views on abortion access living in the Athens, Macon, and Savannah, Georgia metropolitan areas. ALIGN examines why abortion-moderate Georgians support abortion access in some cases and abortion restrictions in others, and what may motivate them to politically engage in reproductive autonomy advocacy.

    • Ashi Parikh, MPH

    • Hayley V. McMahon, MSPH, CPH

    • Whitney Rice, DrPH, MPH

    • Sara Redd, PhD, MSPH

    • Et al.

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Building capacity for full spectrum doula care in communities of color across Georgia

Co-led by Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Georgia, this community-engaged project builds on previously funded research about full spectrum doula care in Georgia. Guided by the Georgia Doula Access Working Group, the research study has focused on facilitators and challenges of doula businesses, experiences during the COVID-19 Pandemic, anti-racism, rural doula care, and refugee/immigrant doulas. The project also supports doulas through training in abortion care and reproductive justice, and through implementation of a hospital-based doula intervention to address racial/ethnic inequities in reproductive health.

Enhancing statewide contraceptive access initiatives (SCAI)

Led by the Coalition to Expand Contraceptive Access (CECA) in collaboration with RISE, this project identified lessons learned and opportunities across Statewide Contraceptive Access Initiatives (SCAIs) to 1) inform the implementation and evaluation of current and future projects and 2) identify opportunities to generate and disseminate evidence on SCAI. The SCAI project used multiple methods to gather input and develop recommendations (i.e., listening sessions, environmental scan, summit gathering). The project reiterates both the need and opportunity for all work on contraceptive access to be committed to integrating equity, reproductive autonomy, and wellbeing.

Evaluating implementation of telehealth services for medication abortion and contraceptive provision in the Southern U.S.

This project continues previously funded work to assess provider readiness for telehealth services for medication abortion (TMAB) and contraceptive care, as well as community preferences, readiness, and ability to use these services in the Southern U.S. Phase I of this project included interviews with sexual and reproductive health service providers about their attitudes towards and readiness for implementing telehealth services. The current Phase II includes a regional survey of individuals, aged 18 to 44 and living in Southern states, about their care-seeking for and experiences with family planning services via telehealth.

    • Subasri Narasimhan, PhD, MPH

    • Anna Newton-Levinson, PhD, MPH

    • Candice Gary, MPH

    • Brooke Whitfield, MA

    • Shimoli Parikh

    • Tanvi Gurazada, MS

    • Megan Higdon, MPH

    • Angeline Ti, MD, MPH

    • Georgia Family Planning System

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Exploring experiences of discrimination in family planning settings among young people in the U.S. Southeast

This dissertation seeks to explore experiences of discrimination in family planning settings in the U.S., and particularly among young people in the U.S. Southeast.

  • Alina Luke, MPH, RISE Doctoral Fellow

    Supported by:

    • Anu Gomez, PhD, MSc

    • Anna Newton-Levinson, PhD, MPH

    • Subasri Narasimhan, PhD, MPH

    • Ariana Bennett, DrPH, MPH

    • Jessica Sales, PhD, MA

    • Melvin Livingston, PhD

    • Sara Redd, PhD, MSPH

    • Whitney Rice, DrPH, MPH

  • This dissertation employs data from the Person-Centered Contraceptive Access Metrics Project, led by Dr. Anu Gómez.

Identifying opportunities for mitigation of caregiver reproductive health access gaps

This project continues previously funded work to describe the population seeking financial and logistical support for abortion care from ARC-Southeast, an abortion fund and co-leader of this project. This phase investigates opportunities to further bridge gaps in access to reproductive healthcare faced by caregivers of children and/or adult dependents in the communities that ARC-Southeast serves, which include Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, and South Carolina. The project includes a regional survey of caregivers (recruiting now here!) about their: experiences as caregivers, support needs, and socioeconomic resources.

    • Sierra Reyes, MA

    • Ashi Parikh, MPH

    • Whitney Rice, DrPH, MPH

    • Et al.

  • We are currently recruiting caregivers (of children or adult dependents) living in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Tennessee, and South Carolina to participate in a research survey. Participants will receive a $20 incentive as a thank-you for completing the survey.

    The purpose of this survey is to better understand the experiences of caregivers, including challenges, needs, and the availability and accessibility of resources and supports. The survey will help identify opportunities to address gaps in resources for caregivers.

Supporting self-sourced medication abortion: Mixed method analysis of calls from a clinical support hotline in the United States

In collaboration between M+A Hotline, researchers at UCSF and RISE, and community-based input from WeTestify, this mixed-method study analyzes calls and surveys from a hotline that, since 2019, has provided expert medical information and support to people in the U.S. who are self-sourcing or managing an abortion (SMA) and/or miscarriage. This project evaluates longitudinal trends in Hotline interactions in the years surrounding the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, assesses shifts in callers pre- and post-Dobbs, and examines caller experiences with, barriers to, and facilitators of accessing SMA pre- and post-Dobbs.

    • Alina Luke, MPH

    • Whitney Rice, DrPH, MPH

    • Sara Redd, PhD, MSPH

    • Tatiana Matuszewski

    • Emma Chew Murphy, MD

    • Jennifer Karlin, MD, PhD

    • Et al.

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Qualitative analyses of abortion disinformation in litigation documents, public media portrayals, and anti-abortion promotion materials

Special interest groups leverage a variety of communications tools to expose key stakeholders (e.g., court justices, clerks, the public, abortion seekers) to false abortion information. This portfolio of projects seeks to create evidence of the harms to public health that stem from promotion of abortion disinformation.

    • Hayley V. McMahon, MSPH, CPH, RISE Doctoral Fellow

    • Naya Pearce, MPH

    • Jera White, MPH

    • Sara K. Redd, PhD, MSPH

    • Whitney S. Rice, DrPH, MPH

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