"It's More Important Than Ever for Men to Play a Role": Women's Perspectives on Safe Sex Responsibilities Following the Dobbs Decision.

Abstract

The Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision in June 2022 revoked the constitutional right to abortion and left abortion policy jurisdiction up to the states. Data were collected in November 2022 through Prolific, a research participant recruitment service, to assess participants' perspectives on safe sex responsibilities in light of the Dobbs decision. Participants were 339 U.S. cisgender women aged 19-29 years (M = 24.4, SD = 2.84). Consensual Qualitative Research - Modified (CQR-M) was used to analyze participants' written responses to the following question: "How has the overturning of Roe v. Wade impacted the way you think about safe sex responsibilities for men and women, if at all?" Four domains (with additional sub-categories) were identified: (1) no/minimal change in attitudes; (2) increased importance of shared pregnancy prevention; (3) it's on me (women bear the brunt of the responsibility); and (4) men's responsibilities should be amplified. This study provides an exploratory, high-level account of how U.S. cisgender women initially responded to the Dobbs decision, highlighting the imbalance of safe sex responsibilities and opportunities for normalizing and rectifying men's responsibilities.