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“Abortion is so stigmatized, controversial and a hot button issue that even social work has been hesitant to make it a primary component of the things we talk about and advocate for, even though reproductive health care affects everything.”

Gretchen Ely, PhD

With reproductive rights under attack, social workers need to understand what they can do to provide resources for clients and what they are legally allowed to say in their state. All this requires learning more about abortion than many social workers know.

Today, we are following up our 2022 podcast on the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson case. Two and a half years later, our guest, Gretchen Ely, PhD, joins us to discuss the new landscape of uncertainty and how women and providers are navigating it.

Ely will talk about the decision’s impact on access to reproductive health care — even beyond the simple right to have an abortion — and on women’s lives, well-being and health. She will conclude with practice recommendations for social workers that align with our ethics and a reproductive justice framework.

Gretchen Ely

Gretchen Ely, PhD, MSW, is a professor and PhD program director at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK), College of Social Work. She is also a faculty affiliate in the UTK Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies program. Ely previously served on the faculty at the University at Buffalo School of Social Work, most recently as a professor and associate dean for academic affairs. Her scholarly interests include vulnerable populations and their access to reproductive health care, trauma-informed reproductive health care, and rural and Appalachian populations. She is a fellow in the Society of Family Planning and a distinguished social work scholar and fellow in the National Academies of Practice, where she served as the elected vice president for public policy from 2017-2019.

Show Notes

Cite this podcast – Sobota, P. (Host). (2025, January 21). Social Work in the Post-Dobbs Era (No. 333)[Audio podcast episode]. In inSocialWork. University at Buffalo School of Social Work.

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