Carole Joffe
Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health, University of California, San Francisco
Areas of Expertise:
Connect with Carole
About Carole
Joffe’s areas of expertise are reproductive health services, reproductive politics and the workforce in these fields. She has written widely, for both academic and lay audiences, on abortion and contraception. She is currently serving on the Board of Directors of the National Abortion Federation and the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals.
Contributions
Improve Abortion Access by Abolishing an Unnecessary FDA Restriction
Policy Recommendation,
The New Wave of State Laws Targeting Abortion Providers
Basic Facts Brief,
Birth Control is an Economic Issue for Women and Their Families
Key Findings Brief,
No Jargon Podcast
In the News
"Ending Roe v. Wade May Have Had the Opposite Effect That Conservatives Had Hoped For," Carole Joffe (with ), Slate, November 7, 2023.
"OB-GYNs Could Have Solidified Abortion As Health Care After Roe. They Missed Their Chance," Carole Joffe, First Opinion, STAT News, June 24, 2023.
"A Beleaguered Abortion Workforce Braces for Things To Get Far Worse," Carole Joffe (with ), Opinion, The Hill, July 6, 2022.
"Even Texas Allows Abortions to Protect a Woman’s Life. Or Does It?," Carole Joffe (with ), Opinion, The New York Times, September 12, 2021.
"The Real Challenges of Exercising the Right to an Abortion—and What You Can Do About It," Carole Joffe (with ), Ms., February 27, 2020.
Carole Joffe quoted on laws and litigation regarding doctors' speech by Mara Gordon, "Doctors Say Federal Rules on Discussing Abortions Inhibit Relationships with Patients" NPR, September 9, 2019.
"With the Appointment of Brett Kavanaugh, Roe v. Wade Is Likely Dead," Carole Joffe, The Washington Post, July 10, 2018.
"Volunteers are the Unsung Heroes of Abortion Care," Carole Joffe (with ), HuffPost, February 6, 2018.
"Race, Class, and the Contradiction of Contemporary Abortion Politics," Carole Joffe, Eyes Right, Political Research Associates, January 26, 2018.
"When Hurricane Harvey Hit, Texas Abortion Providers Stepped Up," Carole Joffe, Rewire, September 12, 2017.
Carole Joffe quoted on state restrictions towards abortion access by David Montero, "South Carolina Becomes the Latest State Pushing to Restrict Abortions by Cutting Funding" Los Angeles Times, August 27, 2017.
"The Legacy - or Lack Thereof - of Phyllis Schlafly," Carole Joffe, Rewire, September 12, 2016.
"‘Abortion and Parenting Needs Can Coexist’: A Q&A with Parker Dockray," Carole Joffe, Rewire, August 19, 2016.
"A Win for Abortion Providers, Patients, and Supporters - for a Change," Carole Joffe, Beacon Broadside, June 29, 2016.
"From Sanger Raids to Fetal-Tissue Research Battles: A Short History of Hypocrisy," Carole Joffe, Rewire, April 11, 2016.
"Anti-Choice Violence: Why Colorado Springs is Different," Carole Joffe, RH Reality Check, December 2, 2015.
"Getting Republicans on Record about How Fetal Tissue Research Has Helped Them," Carole Joffe, RH Reality Check, August 20, 2015.
"Religious Right’s Grip on Republican Party Makes Planned Parenthood a Prime Target," Carole Joffe, RH Reality Check, July 28, 2015.
"Charles Robinson and George Tiller: Two Physicians Who Fought for Justice in a Turbulent Kansas," Carole Joffe, RH Reality Check, May 29, 2015.
"Will Abortion Opponents Use a Familiar Playbook to Push for a 20 Week Ban?," Carole Joffe, The Conversation, January 22, 2015.
"Putting Hobby Lobby in Context: The Erratic Career of Birth Control in the United States," Carole Joffe, The Society Pages, July 4, 2014.
Carole Joffe quoted on reasons for declining abortion rates, "Abortions Declining in U.S., Study Finds" New York Times, February 2, 2014.
"Stigma on Steroids: On Kansas Banning Abortion Providers from Schools," Carole Joffe, RH Reality Check, July 11, 2013.
Publications
"Obstacle Course: The Everyday Struggle to Get an Abortion in America" (with ) (University of California Press, February 2020).
Examines the rise in legal and regulatory barriers to obtaining an abortion in the United States, as well as provider responses and persistence in this environment.
"The Struggle to Save Abortion Care" American Sociological Association 17, no. 3 (2018): 22-27.
Explores how mission-driven abortion care providers continue working to help their patients, resisting both physical attacks and widespread policy proscriptions.
"Working with Dr. Tiller: Staff Recollections of Women’s Health Care Services of Wichita" Perspectives in Sexual and Reproductive Health 43, no. 3 (2011): 199-204.
Describes the controversial, widely misunderstood and deeply compassionate services offered to women who needed to terminate much wanted pregnancies because of severe or lethal fetal anomalies, based on interviews with the staff of the late George Tiller, M.D.
"Trends in Abortion Care and Access" (with ) (Spring , 2010).
Discusses the very uneven access to abortion that exists in different regions of the United States.
"Dispatches from the Abortion Wars: The Costs of Fanaticism to Doctors, Patients and the Rest of Us" (Beacon Press, 2009, paperback 2010).
Discusses the stigmatization of abortion in American society and the impact of the legal, legislative and physical attacks on abortion providers.
"Doctors of Conscience: The Struggle to Provide Abortion before and after Roe v. Wade" (Beacon Press, 1996).
Describes the provision of abortion in the pre-Roe v Wade era, and the unanticipated difficulties of abortion provision after that landmark decision.
"The Regulation of Sexuality: Experiences of Family Planning Workers " (Temple University Press, 1986, paperback 1987).
An ethnography of a clinic that provides birth control and abortion services, told from the perspective of the lay counselors.