Lucrecia Mena Melendez

Assistant Research Professor, University of Cincinnati

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About Lucrecia

Mena-Meléndez’s primary research expertise is in public opinion and attitudes on abortion in the U.S. Most recently, she has examined: (1) U.S. adults' attitudes toward abortion legality across circumstances and gestational timing; (2) U.S. adults' attitudes toward endorsed punishments for an "illegal" abortion; and (3) U.S. adults' social media reactions to the Dobbs v. Jackson decision. She obtained her Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in Sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Contributions | No Jargon Podcast | Member Spotlight | In the News | Publications

Contributions

Americans Oppose Criminalizing Abortion. Too Many Policymakers Aren’t Listening.

Lucrecia Mena Melendez

Commentary, October 2025

Publications

"Online Social Media Reactions to the Overturn of Roe v. Wade: Public Health Implications and Policy Insights" (with Lucrecia Mena Melendez, Danny Valdez, Brandon L. Crawford, and Akshat Arvind). Sexuality Research and Social Policy 21 (2024): 616-631.

Measures reactions to overturning Roe v. Wade via social media. Finds that responses were largely negative, with many expressing concern about the loss of abortion access. Highlights how quickly public attention can shift away from major social issues, raising concerns about the sustainability of public discourse and advocacy around abortion rights.

"Analyzing Reddit Forums Specific to Abortion That Yield Diverse Dialogues Pertaining to Medical Information Seeking and Personal Worldviews: Data Mining and Natural Language Processing Comparative Study" (with Lucrecia Mena Melendez, Danny Valdez, and Brandon L. Crawford). Journal of Medical Internet Research 26 (2024).

Applies natural language processing and social media mining to analyze r/Abortion and r/AbortionDebate subreddits on Reddit. Finds that people are willing to share their beliefs and the style of discourse varied significantly by subreddit.

"Examining the Relationship between Perceptions of Pregnancy and Fetal Development Timing and Support for Abortion Bans" (with Lucrecia Mena Melendez, Brandon L. Crawford, Ronna C. Turner, and Wen-Juo Lo). Journal of Women, Politics & Policy 45, no. 1 (2024): 7-26.

Examines the relationship between perceptions of pregnancy and fetal milestone timing and support for abortion bans. Finds that perceptions of timing for the milestones of pregnancy awareness and fetal pain are significantly related to support for six-week abortion bans. Furthermore, this relationship is moderated by abortion identity labels (e.g. pro-life, pro-choice).

"Abortion Stigma: Attitudes toward Abortion Responsibility, Illegal Abortion, and Perceived Punishments of “Illegal Abortion”" (with Lucrecia Mena Melendez, Brandon L. Crawford, and Ronna C. Turner). Psychology of Women Quarterly 47, no. 4 (2023).

Examines the extent that people believe various actors should be held responsible for "illegal" abortion, believe abortion should be illegal, and endorse different punishments. Finds that people score healthcare providers and women more responsible than other actors. Additionally, “no punishment” was most frequently selected for the woman and healthcare provider.

"An Exploratory Examination of Attitudes toward Illegal Abortion in the U.S. Through Endorsement of Various Punishments" (with Lucrecia Mena Melendez, Brandon L. Crawford, and Ronna C. Turner). Contraception 121 (2023).

Examines people's attitudes about abortion and support for different punishments if abortion were "illegal." Findings show that while most people support abortion being legal in all or most cases, a majority would still support some form of punishment for those involved in abortions if it were banned, particularly therapy/education.