University of Minnesota School of Public Health (SPH) student Nicole Quinones received a grant from the Society of Family Planning for a research project titled “The financial ripple effects of abortion seekers in the post-Dobbs landscape.” The Society of Family Planning is an international non-profit professional organization specializing in abortion and contraception science, and its Emerging Scholars in Family Planning grant is meant to cultivate the next generation of scholars by supporting their work and helping them establish a family-planning research portfolio.

Access to abortion in the U.S. is tied to the financial ability to pay for the procedure, even for those who have health insurance. And, those financial barriers have only been exacerbated since the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Dobbs case in 2022, which overturned the constitutional right to abortion. Now, more people have been forced to cross state lines in order to access abortions. While financial assistance from abortion funds and other organizations have tried to assist with the increasing financial and logistical needs of abortion seekers, people with lower incomes and those from marginalized communities have faced the most barriers.

Quinones’ research will be a formative work that measures the financial burden experienced by abortion seekers in the post-Dobbs landscape.

“I am extremely grateful to the Society of Family Planning for this funding that will help document the financial implications experienced by abortion seekers in the post-Dobbs environment,” Quinones says. “Traveling long distances to access abortion care is becoming increasingly common as more states pass abortion bans and restrictions. The increase in travel distance means an increase in the cost to access abortions, which can be financially detrimental, especially for abortion seekers who are low-income. Accessing abortion care post-Dobbs means that abortion seekers may have to forgo other necessities such as rent, medical care, food, and other bills, which can have detrimental downstream effects on their wellbeing.”

Quinones’ research will be completed in 2025, and results will be shared via Contraception.