Kimport

Katrina Kimport

Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco
Areas of Expertise:
  • Mental Health
  • Reproductive Health
  • LGBT
  • Women

Connect with Katrina

(510) 986-8947

About Katrina

Kimport has three primary areas of research expertise. 1) She is an expert on abortion. Most recently, she has closely examined women’s experience of preabortion ultrasound viewing and the fictional onscreen depictions of abortion, abortion patients, and abortion providers. She has also studied women’s social and emotional experience of abortion (e.g. unpacking “abortion regret”). 2) She is an expert on same-sex marriage in the U.S., with an emphasis on gay and lesbians’ experiences of legal marriage. 3) She is an expert on social movements related to abortion rights and marriage equality in the U.S. She is also knowledgeable about the socio-legal aspects of abortion and same-sex marriage, including how the law is used to regulate both practices and how that translates into people’s lived experience.

Briefs | Podcast | Publications | In the News

Briefs

What Happens when Women Planning Abortions View Ultrasounds?

SSN Key Findings,

Podcast

Publications

"(Mis)Understanding Abortion Regret." Symbolic Interaction 35, no. 2 (2012): 105-122.
Shows that women who experience post-abortion emotional difficulty (sometimes called “regret”) do so because of the complicated contexts of their lives – including romantic relationship loss, lack of social support, and attachment to the pregnancy – rather than because of the physical abortion procedure.
"Telling Stories about Abortion: Abortion-Related Plots in American Film and Television, 1916-2013" (with Gretchen Sisson). Contrception 89, no. 5 (2014): 413-418.
Shows that fictional characters do consider and obtain abortions on television and film, in contrast to popular assumptions. These characters have a high death rate, thereby portraying abortion as medically dangerous.
"Relationship between Ultrasound Viewing and Proceeding to Abortion" (with Mary Gatter, Diana Greene Foster, Tracy Weitz, and Ushma Upadhyay). Obstetrics & Gynecology 123, no. 1 (2014): 81-87.
Demonstrates that voluntary viewing of the preabortion ultrasound image does not change women’s minds about choosing abortion.
"Beyond Political Claims: Women's Interest in and Emotional Response to Viewing Their Ultrasound Image in Abortion Care" (with Tracy Weitz and Diana Greene Foster). Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health (2014).
Shows that women who view their preabortion ultrasound image experience a range of emotional responses to viewing, including no emotional response, negative responses, and positive responses – in contrast to popular assumptions that viewing is always traumatizing. Gestational age does not predict a negative emotional response to viewing.
Queering Marriage: Challenging Family Formation in the U.S. (Rutgers University Press, 2014).
Examines the many and overlapping reasons same-sex couples choose to marry, including as protest, for rights and social recognition, and for love. Argues that, depending on the reasons for marriage, same-sex marriage can both contest and entrench sexual identity-based inequality.

In the News

Katrina Kimport quoted in Emma Green, "Should Pro-Life Clinics Have to Post Information about Abortion?" The Atlantic, March 19, 2018.
Katrina Kimport's research on preabortion ultrasound viewing discussed in Anna BreslawKatrina Kimport, "Do Women Who See Their Ultrasounds Decide against Abortion?," Cosmopolitan, January 10, 2014.
Katrina Kimport's research on depictions of abortion in media discussed in Tara Culp-ResslerKatrina Kimport, "More Than Four Decades after Roe v. Wade, What Stories are We Telling about Abortion?," ThinkProgress, January 22, 2014.
Katrina Kimport's research on preabortion ultrasound viewing discussed in Shereen JegtvigKatrina Kimport, "Seeing Ultrasound Rarely Changes Abortion Plans: Study," Reuters, January 30, 2014.
Katrina Kimport's research on abortion and regret discussed in Laurie AbrahamKatrina Kimport, "Abortion: Not Easy, Not Sorry," Elle, October 14, 2014.