Policy Matters
Eugene, OR: Center for the Study of Women in Society, 2002.

Paper #3: Understanding Medical Abortion: Policy, Politics, and Women's Health
co-authored by S. Marie Harvey(Director of CSWS's Research Program on Women's Health), Christy A. Sherman, Sheryl Thorburn Bird, and Jocelyn Warren
softbound, 66 pp.   Now $5.00

Policy Matters is an on-going series of papers dedicated to social policy issues. When mifepristone (RU-486) was approved by the FDA in September 2000 for medical abortion, many in the pro- choice movement hoped that it would improve access to abortion by increasing the numbers of providers and making abortion services more widely available in underserved areas. However, medical abortion has not yet fulfilled these hopes. In Understanding Medical Abortion, the authors review the short history of mifepristone in this country, as well as the history of methotrexate, another drug used in medical abortion; explain the medical regimens involved in both mifepristone and methotrexate abortions as supported by research and practice; examine the legal and political barriers to medical abortion access and provision in the U.S., and make recommendations to overcome these barriers.

You can also access this issue by clicking on on-line Policy Matters #3.

Policy Matters. Sandra Morgen, editor.
Eugene, OR: Center for the Study of Women in Society, 1999.

Paper #1: Valuing Families: The State of Oregon's Families
by Leslie Harris, Dorothy Kliks Fones Professor of Law
softbound, 91pp.   Now $5.00

Policy Matters is an on-going series of papers dedicated to social policy issues in the state. The inaugural paper of the series, authored by family law expert Leslie Harris, was published June 1999 and is packed with charts, graphs, and text that illustrate the struggles and successes of families in meeting their day-to-day needs such as:

• availability of affordable, accessible health care and child care
• the impact of taxation on household income,
• affordability of housing
• childhood poverty rates
• use of cash assistance, food stamps, and other services
• domestic violence rates, shelter availability

The Status of Women in Oregon: Politics, Economics, Health, Demographics.
Washington, D.C.: Institute for Women's Policy Research, 1998. Co-published by Center for the Study of Women in Society. softbound, 66pp.  Now $5.00

The Status of Women in Oregon Report is a new sourcebook, published Fall 1998, prepared by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, Washington, D.C., and co-published by the UO Center for the Study of Women in Society. This report uses national data sets to examine five aspects of women’s status:

• political participation
• employment and earnings
• economic autonomy
• reproductive rights
• health