Seminar Series – Identifying and Assessing Barriers to Equitable Postpartum Sterilization
Johns Hopkins Hospital, Zayed 2117
1800 Orleans Street
Baltimore, MD 21287
1800 Orleans Street
Baltimore, MD 21287
Fifty percent of women with Medicaid who desire postpartum sterilization are unable to receive one, and almost half of these women become pregnant in the subsequent year. Using normative, qualitative, and quantitative observational analyses, Dr. Arora investigates this disparity between women with private versus Medicaid insurance that exists, in part, due to federal policy aimed at reducing coercion and enhancing informed consent. Balancing ethical goals and clinical evidence, she advocates for policy change that is evidence-based and just.
Kavita Shah Arora is an Associate Professor of Reproductive Biology and Bioethics as well as the Dierker-Biscotti Endowed Professor of Women’s Health and Wellness at Case Western Reserve University. She is a practicing general obstetrician/gynecologist at MetroHealth Medical Center where she serves as the Department’s Director of Quality.
She received her BS with a minor in Philosophy from the Pennsylvania State University. In 2009, she graduated with both an MD from Jefferson Medical College and a Master’s Degree in Bioethics from the University of Pennsylvania. She completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University in 2013. She then completed a Master’s in Science of Clinical Research at Case Western Reserve University in 2019.
She currently serves on the Governing Council for the Young Physicians Section of the American Medical Association. She serves as the Vice Chair of the national ethics committee of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. She has served on the national ethics committee of the American Medical Association. Her research interests include reproductive ethics, disparities surrounding postpartum contraception and sterilization, patient-centered quality of care, uterus transplant, and ethics education.