Abstract
This dissertation explores how an independent abortion clinic in Ohio navigated legal and political uncertainty following the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision, which overturned federal abortion protections. I argue that uncertainty became a mechanism of reproductive governance, influencing both patient and provider capacities to seek and provide abortion care. Through ethnographic fieldwork conducted six months post-Dobbs, I examine how the clinic resisted state-imposed constraints to maintain patient access amid shifting legislation, including Ohio’s six-week abortion ban (OH SB23) and additional legal challenges. The study highlights three key areas: (1) the clinic’s efficiency-driven organizational structure, which enabled rapid adaptation; (2) strategies to disrupt state-mandated fetal personhood claims, such as reinterpretations of ultrasound protocols; and (3) the politicization of medical authority during Ohio’s 2023 citizen-initiated ballot initiative to constitutionally protect abortion. By centering on-the-ground strategies, this research challenges narratives of clinics as passive victims of restrictive laws, reframing them as dynamic spaces of tactical resistance.
Committee Chair
Geoff Childs
Committee Members
Shanti Parikh; Elyse Singer; Rebecca Lester; Talia Dan-Cohen
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Author's Department
Anthropology
Document Type
Dissertation
Date of Award
8-19-2025
Language
English (en)
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7936/9q96-hr70
Recommended Citation
Hoffman, Eva, "Navigating Uncertainty: An Ethnography of an Abortion Clinic in Post-Dobbs Ohio" (2025). Arts & Sciences Theses and Dissertations. 3592.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.7936/9q96-hr70