Carole Joffe

Carole Joffe is a professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. She is co-author of a forthcoming book, Obstacle Course: The Everyday Struggle to Get an Abortion in America.

Getting Republicans on Record About How Fetal Tissue Research Has Helped Them

Carole Joffe

Imagine if the next debate among the Republican presidential candidates started with the moderator asking all the participants who are parents to raise their hands if their children received the polio vaccine as infants.

Religious Right’s Grip on Republican Party Makes Planned Parenthood a Prime Target

Carole Joffe

As reproductive politics are once again consumed by an attack on Planned Parenthood, it is worth stepping back and asking why this organization is so particularly reviled by the anti-choice movement.

Charles Robinson and George Tiller: Two Physicians Who Fought for Justice in a Turbulent Kansas

Carole Joffe

This month brings two anniversaries of note to those of us who are interested in the role that doctors can play in the struggle for social justice: May 21, when pro-slavery "ruffians" invaded Lawrence, Kansas in 1856, and May 31, when George Tiller was murdered by an anti-abortion terrorist in 2009.

New Attacks on Second-Trimester Abortions, Same Old Playbook (Updated)

David Grimes & Carole Joffe

In the 1990s, abortion opponents coined the term "partial-birth abortion" to convince lawmakers to ban an uncommon method. Now, they're trying the same strategy—this time, on a procedure used in almost every second-trimester abortion.

Will Obama’s Vision of Child Care Overcome Nixon’s Legacy?

Carole Joffe

As a longtime advocate for quality child care, I was heartened to hear President Obama's forceful words on the matter during his State of the Union address. It occurred to me that it had been more than 40 years since a U.S. president had so visibly addressed the issue—and on that occasion, the message had been very different.

The Hidden Costs of Abortion Restrictions

Carole Joffe

The impact of targeted regulations on abortion providers extends beyond financial—it can also make it challenging to sustain a vision of quality "woman-centered" care.

Putting ‘Hobby Lobby’ in Context: The Erratic Career of Birth Control in the United States

Carole Joffe

The contraceptive wars started with the notorious campaign in the late 19th century of the Postmaster General Anthony Comstock, who successfully banned the spread of information about contraception under an obscenity statute.

Reflections on the Fifth Anniversary of the Assassination of Dr. George Tiller

Carole Joffe

The road ahead for abortion providers and their allies to not only preserve George Tiller’s specialized service, but simply to stay open, is hardly an easy one. But many of those who knew Dr. Tiller as a colleague and friend are no doubt fortified by remembering one of his favorite sayings: “Attitude is everything.”

In Memoriam: Terry Beresford, Abortion Pioneer

Carole Joffe

Terry Beresford, who died last week in Virginia, made monumental contributions to abortion care in the United States. Her death offers the occasion to both celebrate her work, and also to appraise the current status of the field she helped create.

Phyllis Schlafly: Still Wrong (and Mean) After All These Years

Carole Joffe

A recent column by Phyllis Schlafly—arguably nation’s, if not the world’s, most famous hater of the feminist movement—shows just how woefully out of touch she and the conservative spokeswomen who have followed her are today.

Carole Joffe

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