Tracee Morgan Saunders

Assistant Professor of Political Science, Pennsylvania State University-University Park

Chapter Leader: Central Pennsylvania SSN

Areas of Expertise:

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About Tracee

Saunders' research focuses on American politics, health policy, and social inequality. Overarching themes in Saunders' writings include the role of state and local politics and administrative burdens (such as how complicated application processes are) in individuals' ability to access government-funded health and social welfare resources. Saunders serves as a research affiliate with the US General Service Administration's Office of Evaluation Sciences and has worked with The Roosevelt Institute's Campus Network.

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

In the News

Research discussed by Kimala Price, in "Women of Color Want Reproductive Justice, Not Just Abortion Rights," The Washington Post, May 12, 2022.

Opinion: "A Baffled Southerner at the Iowa Caucuses," Tracee Morgan Saunders, Scalawag, February 18, 2020.

Research discussed by Sarah Varney, in "‘Contraception Deserts’ Likely To Widen under New Trump Administration Policy," KFF Health News, September 28, 2018.

Opinion: "Variation in Title X Leads to Contraception Deserts," Tracee Morgan Saunders (with Rebecca J. Kreitzer and Candis Watts Smith), The Gender Policy Report, August 14, 2018.

Publications

"SPRC19: A Database of State Policy Responses to COVID-19 in the United States" (with Frederick J. Boehmke, Bruce A. Desmarais, Abbie Eastman, Isabelle Grassel, Jeffrey J. Harden, Samuel Harper, Liam Kaboli, Hyein Ko, and Elisabeth Oster). Scientific Data 10, no. 526 (2023).

Introduces SPRC19, a comprehensive database tracking U.S. state policy responses to COVID-19. It categorizes policies from executive, legislative, and judicial sources into 206 types, providing detailed information on their timing and scope.

"Contraception Deserts: The Effects of Title X Rule Changes on Access to Reproductive Health Care Resources" (with Candis Watts Smith, Rebecca J. Kreitzer, and Kellen A. Kane). Politics & Gender 18, no. 3 (2022): 672-707.

Examines how growing political polarization has transformed Title X into a partisan issue linked to abortion debates. Findings show that recent federal rule changes have significantly worsened inequalities in access to contraception and reproductive health services.

"Affordable but Inaccessible? Contraception Deserts in the US States" (with Rebecca J. Kreitzer, Candis Watts Smith, and Kellen A. Kane). Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law 46, no. 2 (2021).

Assesses how equitably Title X reproductive health resources are distributed across the U.S. Findings reveal not only a wide range of sizes and shapes of contraception deserts across the US states but also a range of severity of inequity.