Abortion in the Time of COVID-19: Telemedicine Restrictions and the Undue Burden Test

During the COVID-19 pandemic, even while many traditional restrictions on telemedicine have been relaxed, few states have suspended existing regulatory restrictions on the remote provision of medication abortions (teleabortions). Simultaneously, an overlapping subset of states have cited the public health emergency as a reason to curtail access to surgical abortion. This Comment suggests that under the Fourteenth Amendment and Supreme Court precedent, these two actions, taken together, have the effect of posing an undue burden to abortion access, especially for women from disadvantaged backgrounds. It first describes the politicized regulatory landscape surrounding teleabortions and argues that expanded teleabortion is a safe alternative when states restrict access to surgical abortions due to a public health emergency. In light of the unique burdens of the pandemic, a failure to provide access to either constitutes an undue burden. Last, the results of select states’ experimentation with teleabortion during the pandemic could provide additional data points in favor of integrating teleabortion into reproductive healthcare, even after the COVID-19 pandemic lapses

Public Health Implications of Evictions: Modeling the Costs for Landlords, Tenants, and Society

In the United States, more than 13% of renters experience a formal or informal eviction in their lifetime. Forced moves contribute to a decline in job status, mental and physical health, material possessions, safety, social networks, housing aid, and neighborhood stability. Previous research has explored the risk factors, causes, and costs to those burdened by evictions. However, the costs of evictions incurred by all stakeholders involved in the process of evictions and homelessness remain largely unexplored. The homeownership rate in New Haven is less than 30%, and more than 52% of households are ‘cost-burdened,’ meaning more than 30% of income “is spent on housing costs associated with owning or renting a home.” Thus, this project set out to analyze the contributing burdens of costs within New Haven, Connecticut.https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/ysph_pbchrr/1016/thumbnail.jp

Planned Parenthood: LGBTQ Healthcare in Southern New England

The LGBTQ community experiences health disparities related to access to care, utilization of care, experiences of discrimination, perceptions of injustice, healthcare neglect, and inappropriate care. In addition, statistics often cite higher rates of some health outcomes, such as higher rates of mental illness and substance use in the LGBTQ community at large and HIV/AIDS for transgender women and gay and queer men (Alvy et al., 2011; Cochran et al., 2003; Coulter et al., 2015). These disparities in health and healthcare stand as an emergency beacon to both community members and organizations aimed to serve them. Organizations throughout Connecticut and Rhode Island, such as AIDS Project New Haven, True Colors in Hartford, Triangle Community Center in Norwalk, and SAGE in Providence advocate and work toward the better health of these organizations. But the question of what healthcare needs and desires among LGBTQ community members are not being met by local organizations remains uncertain. This report highlights health disparities and needs among the LGBTQ community using both previous research and the voices of community members. Through highlighting the health care experiences of community members, we illuminate some key factors that influence the health outcomes and thoughts around healthcare within the LGBTQ community. Several of the recommendations and thoughts regarding the expansion and changes to PPSNE are simple, yet poignant fixes to strengthen the comfort and confidence levels of PPSNE staff and providers into the highly comfortable strata found in the survey. This cyclical relationship between providers and patients offers a new and expansive market and community access to Planned Parenthood, with another, often expansive healthcare organization to provide care to community members. Other Planned Parenthood locations throughout the United States offer services and amplify access through specific marketing campaigns to LGBTQ community members. Utilizing these models and heeding the suggestions of community members can offer potential success to both parties, as well as potentially working toward intangible goals, like reducing stigma, increasing awareness, and spreading positive health outcomes throughout the LGBTQ community and the general community. We encourage Planned Parenthood of Southern New England to consider these these steps, and believe that doing so will improve the health status of many LGBTQ community members by dramatically increasing both accessibility and demand for high quality clinical services at PPSNE.https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/ysph_pbchrr/1051/thumbnail.jp

Assessing Low-Income Community Members\u27 Views on Food Access and Farmers\u27 Markets in New Haven

In 2004, CitySeed Inc. was formed to oversee and operate farmers’ markets (FMs) in New Haven. Since then, they have grown through a series of programs and incentives aimed at increasing availability of fresh fruits and vegetables (F&V) to all residents of New Haven. CitySeed has implemented the SNAP Double Value incentive program, which allows SNAP recipients to double the value of their purchases (i.e. $1 buys$2 worth of F&V) at FMs for up to $20. CitySeed has also implemented a SNAP customer Loyalty Program, Farmers Market Nutrition Coupon redemption, and F&V prescription program. With information from CitySeed and past studies in major cities that employed similar double-value programs, the authors focused on three primary objectives: Evaluate availability and accessibility of healthy food choices for low-income residents in New Haven, assess perspectives on barriers to CitySeed’s farmers’ markets among low-income community members, and recommend steps for CitySeed to tailor markets and programming to community needs and interests.https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/ysph_pbchrr/1017/thumbnail.jp