Following the 2022 US Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, many states have passed laws restricting or protecting abortion care. Through interviews and focus groups, the Reproductive Health Experiences and Access (RHEA) study team sought to understand how people access and experience reproductive health care in shifting state policy landscapes.
From April to November 2025, the RHEA study team conducted in-person site visits to our 13 study states. During these visits, we conducted 120 interviews with 164 health care providers, policymakers, and advocates whose work relates to reproductive health care access and use, and 28 focus groups with 184 women ages 18 to 49. We conducted two of these focus groups in Spanish (17 participants) and six focus groups exclusively with people who identify as LGBTQIA+ (63 participants).
To understand how geographic location influences reproductive health care experiences, the research team sought to visit both an urban and rural location in each state, where feasible.
Interview topics included:
- state reproductive health policy and practice
- perceptions of experiences with and access to reproductive health care (including abortion, contraceptive, and miscarriage care)
- opportunities to improve experiences with and access to reproductive health care
Focus group topics included:
- experiences accessing and receiving reproductive health care (including gynecological, contraceptive, abortion, and miscarriage care)
- perceptions of availability, legality, and access to abortion care
- knowledge and information about reproductive health care
The following fact sheets highlight key findings from each state site visit, identified through systematic thematic analysis of interview and focus group data.
For more information about how we conducted our analysis, see the RHEA Study Qualitative Methodology report.
