Penn Bioethics Seminar (PBS): "Measuring Implementation of Abortion Law, Globally" - Patricia Skuster, JD, MPP
12:00pm - 1:00pm • 3600 Civic Center Blvd., 8-304
2026-04-21 12:00:00 2026-04-21 13:00:00 America/New_York Penn Bioethics Seminar (PBS): "Measuring Implementation of Abortion Law, Globally" - Patricia Skuster, JD, MPP Measuring Implementation of Abortion Law, Globally Patricia Skuster, JD, MPP Associate Director of Accreditation Core MPH teaching faculty, Master’s in Public Health Program University of Pennsylvania The World Health Organization issues guidelines on abortion care, which include recommendations on abortion law and policy. WHO monitors adherence to its guidelines through tracking the abortion laws and policies of every WHO member state. As part of this work, Patty Skuster is currently leading a project with WHO to measure implementation of abortion law, globally. The project includes the formation of a theoretical framework for measuring implementation of law, creation of 50 implementation indicators, collection of data for each WHO member state, and the development of composite indicators for comparison between countries and over time. In this talk, Skuster will also describe preceding work on causal modeling of the effect of abortion law on health outcomes, and challenges in bridging theories of policy implementation with identification of suitable metrics. 3600 Civic Center Blvd., 8-304 Penn Medical EthicsMeasuring Implementation of Abortion Law, Globally
Associate Director of Accreditation
Core MPH teaching faculty, Master’s in Public Health Program
University of Pennsylvania
The World Health Organization issues guidelines on abortion care, which include recommendations on abortion law and policy. WHO monitors adherence to its guidelines through tracking the abortion laws and policies of every WHO member state.
As part of this work, Patty Skuster is currently leading a project with WHO to measure implementation of abortion law, globally. The project includes the formation of a theoretical framework for measuring implementation of law, creation of 50 implementation indicators, collection of data for each WHO member state, and the development of composite indicators for comparison between countries and over time. In this talk, Skuster will also describe preceding work on causal modeling of the effect of abortion law on health outcomes, and challenges in bridging theories of policy implementation with identification of suitable metrics.