Lawrence Finer, Director of Domestic Research

Larry Finer joined the Guttmacher Institute in 1998. As Director of Domestic Research, he is responsible for supervising Guttmacher’s research portfolio of U.S.-focused projects on family planning services, contraceptive use patterns, pregnancy and abortion, and adolescent reproductive health. In addition, his project responsibilities have included updating U.S. estimates of unintended pregnancy, as well as overseeing Guttmacher’s periodic census of abortion providers, which measures the incidence and availability of abortion nationwide. Dr. Finer has authored work on premarital sex, women's reasons for seeking abortion, multiple sexual partnerships and risk for sexually transmitted diseases, the services provided by U.S. family planning agencies and clinics, men’s reproductive health, and the timing of first family planning visits. He also serves as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Population and Family Health at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. In 2004, he received the Outstanding Young Professional Award from the Population, Family Planning and Reproductive Health Section of the American Public Health Association. Dr. Finer came to Guttmacher after serving as a Social Science Analyst in the Demographic and Behavioral Sciences Branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. He received his A.B. in psychology from Harvard and his Ph.D. in population dynamics from the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health.

Recent Publications Include:

Jones RK, Zolna MRS, Henshaw SK and Finer LB, Abortion in the United States: Incidence and access to services, 2005, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2008, 40(1):6-16.

Frost JJ, Singh S and Finer LB, Factors Associated with Contraceptive Use and Nonuse, United States, 2004, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2007, 39(2):90-99.

Frost JJ, Singh S and Finer LB, U.S. Women's One-Year Contraceptive Use Patterns, 2004, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2007, 39(1):48-55.

Finer LB, Trends in premarital sex in the United States, 1954-2003, Public Health Reports, 2007, 122(1):73-78.

Jones RK, Singh S and Finer LB, Repeat abortion in the United States, Occasional Report, New York: Guttmacher Institute, 2006, No. 29.

Finer LB et al., Timing of Steps and Reasons for Delays in Obtaining Abortions in the United States, Contraception, 2006, 74(4):334-344.

Finer LB et al., Disparities in unintended pregnancy in the United States, 1994 and 2001, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2006, 38(2):90–96.

Boonstra H, Gold RB, Richards C and Finer LB, Abortion in Women’s Lives, New York: Guttmacher Institute, 2006.

Finer LB, Frohwirth LF, Dauphinee LA, Singh S and Moore AM, "Reasons U.S. women have abortions: quantitative and qualitative perspectives," Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2005, 37(3):110-118.

Jones RK, Purcell A, Singh S and Finer LB, Adolescents’ reports of parental knowledge of adolescents’ use of sexual health services and their reactions to mandated parental notification for prescription contraception, Journal of the American Medical Association, 2005, 293(3):340–348.

Finer LB, Darroch JE and Frost JJ, Services for men at publicly funded family planning agencies, 1998–1999, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2003, 35(5):202–207.

Finer LB and Henshaw SK, Abortion incidence and services in the United States in 2000, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2003, 35(1):6–15.

Henshaw SK and Finer LB, The accessibility of abortion services in the United States, 2001, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2003, 35(1):16–24.

Finer LB, Darroch JE and Frost JJ, U.S. agencies providing publicly funded family planning services in 1999, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2002, 34(1):15–24.

Finer LB, Darroch JE and Singh S, Sexual partnership patterns as a behavioral risk factor for sexually transmitted diseases, Family Planning Perspectives, 1999, 31(5):228–236.

Finer LB and Zabin LS, Does the first family planning visit still matter?,Family Planning Perspectives, 1998, 30(1):30–33 and 42.