Kelly Blanchard holds both a Master of Science in Population and International Health and a Bachelor's degree in social studies from Harvard. Ms. Blanchard held a Fulbright Scholarship in Ghana. Prior to joining Ibis, Ms. Blanchard worked at the Population Council as a Program Associate, where she managed a growing program on reproductive health in South Africa and the Southern Africa region. Her most recent research has focused on contraception, medical and surgical abortion, microbicides, and cervical barriers for HIV/STI prevention. Ms. Blanchard has authored or co-authored over forty articles on reproductive health topics in developed and developing countries. In 2006 Ms. Blanchard won the Outstanding Young Professional Award from the American Public Health Association's Population, Family Planning and Reproductive Health Section. Ms. Blanchard is the recipient of the 2009 Darroch Award for Excellence in Sexual and Reproductive Health Research, sponsored by the Guttmacher Institute.
On this 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we honor and celebrate US women’s legal right to abortion, and we reaffirm our commitment to ensuring that abortion is accessible to women everywhere, and that the promise of the decision is a reality for all of us.
HIV-positive women—like all women worldwide—have the right to decide when and if to have children. At a minimum, non-biased pregnancy options counseling and referrals to safe abortion and/or post-abortion care services should be part of comprehensive SRH services provided to HIV-positive (and all) women.
The Affordable Care Act provides a huge opportunity to make sure US women have access to contraception. Contraception should be on the list of preventive medicines and services that don’t require a co-pay—that makes health and fiscal sense.
One unintended consequence of Massachusetts’ innovative 2007 reform legislation is reduced contraceptive access for low-income women. We can’t repeat this mistake nationally.
