Overview
The aftershocks of the Dobbs decision overturning the constitutional right to abortion continue to reverberate across the health care system as patients and clinicians navigate the uncertain, politically charged, and changing terrain of reproductive health care. In partnership with the Society of Family Planning and the Commonwealth Fund, AcademyHealth established a research community in 2024 dedicated to examining the health equity impacts and broader effects of the Supreme Court's 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health on the health care system.
This initiative draws upon a 2023 brief and research agenda generated via invitational workshop and follow-up webinar to elevate the importance of reproductive health research within the health services research (HSR) community.
Applications for the Research Community are currently reviewed on a quarterly basis. Please submit your application through this form.
More Information About the Research Community
The Research Community on the Equity Impacts of Dobbs (the Research Community) is a professional network for researchers to collaborate and share information about research practices and approaches to understand the impacts of reproductive health policy changes on the U.S. health care system. Members of this diverse, multidisciplinary research community include health services researchers, reproductive health researchers, and community-based researchers working in reproductive health and related health care domains, as well as representatives from public and private funders interested in supporting this work.
In the past, the Research Community has hosted bimonthly convenings on effective technical and methodological approaches applied in health services and reproductive health research to study the impacts of Dobbs on the health care system, as well as public webinars on top reproductive health issues for the field to explore. Regular convenings are currently on pause as of October 2025. The Research Community continues to serve as a space for reproductive health researchers to share opportunities and resources.
This Research Community contributes to the evidence base of research on the impacts of Dobbs by:
- Building capacity within HSR to conduct research on the equity impacts of the Dobbs decision throughout the country and health care system,
- Building and strengthening research partnerships between HSR, reproductive health research, and community-based organizations and communities,
- Elevating the importance of these research questions in the HSR field for investigators and research funders, and
- Educating the broader HSR community on technical aspects of conducting research on the impact of reproductive health policy changes.