Research Projects

Navigating Care Under Exclusion: Abortion and Contraception Trajectories of Latino Communities in Wisconsin

People’s ability to make decisions about reproductive health is influenced by much more than personal choice or knowledge. It is also shaped by where they live, how they are treated by institutions and systems, and whether they have the resources to overcome legal, geographic, and financial barriers. In Wisconsin, these challenges are especially significant for Latino communities. Although Latinos are the largest ethnic minority group in the state, many continue to face structural barriers to accessing abortion and contraception.

Community organizations and advocates regularly point to immigration policies, legal uncertainty, and a lack of culturally and linguistically responsive services as major obstacles. Yet these issues have received little attention in research, which has often focused on cultural or family influences rather than the broader systems and policies that affect people’s reproductive health decisions and access to care.

This community-engaged study will center the experiences of Latinos in Wisconsin to better understand the structural barriers they face and identify ways to improve equitable access to abortion and contraceptive care. The study will explore a key question: What formal and informal systems of support shape Latino people’s experiences seeking abortion and contraception? Findings will help strengthen support systems for Latino communities across Wisconsin, with attention to the state’s changing policies, gaps in services, and broader social and political environment.

“I Don’t Feel like I Have Access to Better Options”: Understanding How to Better Meet Wisconsinites’ Contraceptive Needs

Many people who want to avoid pregnancy are dissatisfied with the contraceptive options available to them. They may wish for fewer side effects or for more options for partners to share responsibility for preventing pregnancy. Despite these concerns, relatively little investment has gone into developing new and better contraceptive options. Instead, users are expected to “make do” with current methods, leading to high levels of contraceptive dissatisfaction.

Previous CORE research found that more than half of Wisconsin residents who are not using contraception are dissatisfied with available methods. Participants said that concerns about the methods themselves were often a bigger factor in their decisions than cost or access to care. At the same time, social media has become a seedbed of anti-contraception messaging, mixing pronatalism, anti-pharmaceutical sentiment, and “tradwife” ideologies. These forces make it more important than ever to understand people’s own sense of their contraceptive needs and how reproductive health programs can help meet those needs.

This study will focus on Wisconsinites who want to prevent pregnancy but choose not to use contraception. The goal is not to persuade people to use birth control. Instead, the study aims to better understand people’s experiences, needs, and preferences so that sexual and reproductive health programs — and future contraceptive technologies — can better reflect what people say they want and need.

Primary Care and Family Medicine Providers: Critical Partners in Expanding Abortion Access

Primary care and family medicine doctors play an important role in meeting a wide range of healthcare needs, yet they are rarely included in research, clinical efforts, or advocacy related to reproductive healthcare access, especially abortion access. This study explores how these providers could play a larger role in helping patients access abortion care.

Wisconsin is an important place to examine this issue. Both before and after Dobbs, many people in the state have lived far from abortion care. At the same time, shortages of obstetrician-gynecologists, especially in rural communities, mean that family medicine and primary care doctors are increasingly responsible for providing sexual and reproductive healthcare in the state. In some areas, they may be the only physicians available to patients.

Because these providers often have long-standing relationships with their patients, they are well positioned to offer personalized and comprehensive reproductive healthcare, including abortion. Family medicine physicians have also emphasized that helping patients make informed decisions about their reproductive health is consistent with the core values of their field.

Despite this potential, many barriers limit family medicine and primary care involvement. Some providers do not have the information needed to connect patients with abortion services, while others lack the training, equipment, or institutional support to provide abortion care directly. What’s more, some healthcare organizations do not allow family medicine or primary care physicians to provide abortions within their practices.

This study will work directly with primary care and family medicine providers across Wisconsin to better understand their experiences, challenges, and opportunities for involvement in abortion care. The findings will help identify practical pathways for expanding abortion-related care and support in primary care settings and lay the groundwork for future strategies to improve access across the state.