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Steph Herold

Sea Change Program

Steph Herold, MPH, is an award-winning activist and social scientist with a background in abortion care, abortion funds, and reproductive health advocacy. She is a co-founder and former co-director of one of the leading abortion stigma reduction organizations in the United States, the Sea Change Program. Steph is a recognized expert on abortion access, appearing in various media outlets including the Melissa Harris-Perry Show. She currently serves on the Advisory Board of Reproaction. Her past board experience includes serving on the Board of Directors of the New York Abortion Access Fund for three years, the Steering Committee of the International Network for the Reduction of Abortion Discrimination and Stigma for two years, and on the ACCESS: Women’s Health Justice Board of Directors for one year. Steph lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and dog. You can follow her on Twitter at @StephHerold.

All Work

[Photo: Abby Johnson (played by actress Ashley Bratcher) cares for a group of women in pain during a scene from the movie Unplanned.]

Culture & Conversation Abortion

Shock, Gore, and More: ‘Unplanned’ Recycles Timeworn Tropes of Anti-Choice Films

Apr 5, 1:12pm Steph Herold & Gretchen Sisson

Anti-abortion films spread misinformation and build a world that is distinctly white, Christian, and conservative.

Analysis Abortion

Study: Abortion Rates Are in Decline, but There’s No Single Reason Why

Oct 19, 7:34pm Steph Herold

Until we have more insight about the reasons for the 25 percent decrease in the national abortion rate, the abortion rate is just that: a number.

Analysis Abortion

Study: Abortion Pills Ordered Online Were Safe, But None Came With Instructions

Oct 10, 3:52pm Steph Herold

This is the first study to test the potency of the pills themselves.

Analysis Abortion

People Have Multiple Abortions—and Stigmatizing Them Is Counterproductive

Sep 13, 10:26am Steph Herold

As researchers note in a new study, “the ability to access abortion care when needed—even if more than once—should be prioritized.”

Culture & Conversation Media

‘Birthright’ Film Offers Incomplete Look at the War on Abortion

Jul 25, 12:53pm Steph Herold

We need documentaries that go further, by challenging the notion that women are just victims of the state, that abortions are primarily a sad and tragic affair, and that the only reason to care about abortion restrictions is because they affect “respectable” women who want to pursue motherhood.

Analysis Abortion

‘Our Patients Aren’t Stupid’: New Study Finds Mandatory Waiting Periods, Counseling Don’t Work as Intended

May 2, 2:06pm Steph Herold

While these restrictions provide logistical and financial obstacles to obtaining an abortion, they often do not achieve the desired emotional obstacle of forcing a patient to reconsider their abortion decision.

Steph Herold

Commentary Media

When Allies Stigmatize: Nick Kristof, Family Planning, and Abortion

Mar 7, 11:42am

In a recent column, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist distinguishes abortion from other types of health care—a common false dichotomy but a peculiar stance from a global health advocate.

Culture & Conversation Media

‘Dirty Dancing’ Led the Way in Depicting Abortion—If Only Other Media Would Follow

Feb 28, 11:45am Steph Herold

A new study shows how today's TV doesn't measure up to past depictions, often exaggerating abortion risk and how easy it is to get care.

Steph Herold

Commentary Health Systems

The Cultural Toll of the Hyde Amendment

Sep 20, 9:01am

Simply put, Hyde is a bad policy and leads to poor health outcomes, especially for women of color and people who are struggling to make ends meet. Here's an explanation of the emotional and cultural effect Hyde has had over the last 40 years.

Steph Herold

Commentary Abortion

Abortion Rates Alone Don’t Tell Us What We Need to Know About the State of Reproductive Wellness

Jun 11, 11:33am

While a new Associated Press report suggests the abortion rate is declining in almost all states, we still don't know whether there's been an increase in reproductive wellness. Focusing only on a lowered abortion rate as metric of health and well-being is both inaccurate and stigmatizing of abortion.

Renee Bracey Sherman

Steph Herold

Commentary Abortion

New Research on How to Support Abortion Storytellers

Nov 21, 5:02pm

This week, we released Saying Abortion Aloud, a report and set of recommendations for those sharing their personal abortion stories publicly and the advocates who support them.

Analysis Abortion

Groundbreaking Research Aims to Expand Our Knowledge of Abortion Stigma

Oct 22, 10:11am Steph Herold

Despite its ubiquity in our culture, abortion stigma has garnered relatively little scholarly attention. Now, after two years of effort, there's a new issue of the academic journal Women and Health that focuses entirely on the subject.

Steph Herold

Kate Cockrill

Commentary Abortion

Imagining a World Without Abortion Stigma

Sep 26, 9:22am

In order to guide our activist priorities, we must envision what our long-term goal of a world without abortion stigma would ultimately look like.

Steph Herold

Commentary Abortion

Four Ways to Create Culture Change Around Abortion

May 22, 5:21pm

Culture change is distinct from policy change and health-care access, but it’s just as important. It’s difficult to imagine long-term policy gains without doing the hard work to change norms, beliefs, and behavior.

Analysis Abortion

Study Finds High Rates of Satisfaction With Abortion Care

Jul 26, 3:35pm Steph Herold

Knowing what patients value and need from a clinic at the time of their abortion can help us make sure that abortion care is not only safe, but also patient-centered and provided in a compassionate manner.

Analysis Abortion

Making Progress Toward Destigmatizing Abortion

May 21, 5:36pm Steph Herold

How can we use all the data we have to create programs that actually make a dent in abortion stigma?

Analysis Abortion

Medicaid Coverage for Abortion Care Elusive Even in States Where It Is Legal

Feb 26, 8:00am Steph Herold

Requiring Medicaid coverage of abortion is a far cry from guaranteeing that people can access an abortion when they need one.

Analysis Contraception

Evidence-Based Advocacy: Addressing Pregnancy Ambivalence in Both Women and Men

Jan 28, 10:52pm Steph Herold

Instead of only emphasizing that couples should use contraception consistently and correctly, we have to figure out how to help them clarify their feelings about pregnancy, even if those feelings are messy and complicated.

Steph Herold

Commentary Abortion

A Response to Time Magazine: Young People Are Not Fragmenting the Pro-Choice Movement

Jan 7, 12:04am

It may be true that the pro-choice movement is "more fragmented than it's ever been," but this is not because young people are clamoring to overthrow those who are running legacy organizations.

Analysis Abortion

Evidence-Based Advocacy: How Do Abortion Providers Experience Stigma?

Jan 1, 12:46pm Steph Herold

Many highly trained physicians provide abortion care, so why do abortion providers continue to be stereotyped as substandard doctors?

Evidence-Based Advocacy: Poverty, Adoption, and Inequality in Perspective

Nov 5, 9:33pm Steph Herold & Gretchen Sisson

How do the intersections between adoption, poverty, race, and class play out today?

Analysis Abortion

Evidence-Based Advocacy: Expanding Our Thinking About “Repeat” Abortions

Oct 16, 7:44am Steph Herold

We should understand women who have had multiple abortions through their individual life experiences rather than judging them based on their pregnancy history.

Analysis Abortion

Evidence-Based Advocacy: What Do Low-Income Women Think About Public Funding for Abortion?

Sep 27, 7:32am Steph Herold

We know what we think about the Hyde Amendment. But what do women who are on Medicaid, the very people who are most affected by Hyde, think about the restrictions it places on their insurance coverage?

Analysis Abortion

Evidenced-Based Advocacy: (Mis)-Understanding Abortion Regret

Sep 6, 9:22am Steph Herold

When we rely on a relief/regret dichotomy to define women's emotional experiences after their abortions, we leave little room for the complexity inherent in women’s reproductive lives.

Steph Herold

Megan J. Smith

Commentary Abortion

Operating Under a Broken System: On Legitimate Abortions and Forced Triage

Aug 24, 10:56am

What we need to constantly keep in mind is how we are deciding who is most in need of help, and reevaluating how that fits in with our values. Are we ok with only helping certain kinds of people who need abortions? Can we strategize for a future in which we don’t have to make these tough decisions? How can we get there?

Analysis Abortion

The New Public Face of Abortion: Connecting the Dots Between Abortion Stories

Jul 8, 10:09pm Steph Herold

Over the last few months, there's been an electric energy around abortion story sharing. What's going on here? Why are so many people "coming out" now? And what are the similarities and differences in their experiences?

Steph Herold

Eesha Pandit

Commentary Abortion

Falling Between the Cracks: Why Abortion Funds Exist and How You Can Help Them Help Women

Feb 6, 1:43pm

Even in New York and the 16 other states that provide Medicaid coverage for abortion, thousands of low-income women fall between the cracks. Many women may be too poor to pay for abortion procedures, but they are uninsured or not poor enough to obtain public health insurance coverage like Medicaid.

Analysis Abortion

Abortion is Legal: So Why is Self-Abortion Care a Crime?

Dec 6, 9:53pm Susan Yanow & Steph Herold

Last week, a 20-year-old woman in New York City was arrested on charges of “self-induced abortion” and faces first-degree misdemeanor charges. Initial news reports indicate that she intentionally caused the miscarriage/abortion of her 24-week fetus. The woman disposed of the fetus in what was probably the only way she could think of: wrapped in plastic bags and placed in the trash receptacle of her apartment building.

Analysis Abortion

Reducing Abortion Stigma: Problems and Strategies

Jun 30, 6:45am Steph Herold

What a new study suggests about reducing abortion stigma.

The Racist Billboads Are Coming for You

Jun 8, 12:21pm Steph Herold

New billboard targets latinas with anti-abortion messages. And if you don’t speak out about this racist propaganda, they will target you next.

(CORRECTION) What Everyone Needs to Know About Second Trimester Abortions

Jul 30, 6:00am Steph Herold

Most women who have second trimester abortions do so out of necessity - not choice.