Skip to main content

Irregular menstrual cycles may prevent women from accessing abortions

When states began proposing “heartbeat bills” — legislation that would prohibit abortion as early as six weeks, as soon as a fetus’s heartbeat is detected — Jenna Nobles took notice, employing her skills as a researcher. For the past few years, the University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of sociology has examined how these policies could affect people with irregular or long menstrual cycles.