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.

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

Steph Herold & Gretchen Sisson

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

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

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.

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

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?

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

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.

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

Steph Herold & Megan J. Smith

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?

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

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?

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

Steph Herold & Eesha Pandit

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.

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

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.

Reducing Abortion Stigma: Problems and Strategies

Steph Herold

What a new study suggests about reducing abortion stigma.

The Racist Billboads Are Coming for You

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.

Steph Herold

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