Heather Boonstra, Senior Public Policy Associate

Heather Boonstra is a Senior Public Policy Associate in the Guttmacher Institute's Washington, DC office and is responsible for promoting the Institute’s sexual and reproductive health agenda in federal law and policy. Ms. Boonstra is a regular contributor to the Institute’s policy journal, the Guttmacher Policy Review, and oversees a portfolio of projects on abortion, adolescent sexual and reproductive health and the integration of family planning and HIV services in the United States and globally. Ms. Boonstra came to Guttmacher in 1999, after working with the Reproductive Health Technologies Project and as a consultant with the Center for International Health and Information, Save the Children, and the Pacific Institute for Women’s Health. Ms. Boonstra graduated summa cum laude from the University of Oregon and holds an M.A. in religion from Yale University, where she studied medical ethics.

Recent Publications Include:

Boonstra H, Despite Consensus and Mounting Evidence, Challenges to Improved HIV–Reproductive Health Linkages Remain, Guttmacher Policy Review, 2008, 11(4):7-10.

Boonstra H, The Impact of Government Programs on Reproductive Health Disparities: Three Case Studies, Guttmacher Policy Review, 2008, 11(3):6-12.

Boonstra H, Making HIV Tests ‘Routine’: Concerns and Implications, Guttmacher Policy Review, 2008, 11(2):14-18.

Boonstra H, Matter of Faith: Support for Comprehensive Sex Education Among Faith-Based Organizations, Guttmacher Policy Review, 2008, 11(1):17-22.

Boonstra H, Renewing a Focus on Prevention in U.S. Global AIDS Policy, Guttmacher Policy Review, 2007, 10(4):14-18.

Boonstra H, Young People Need Help in Preventing Pregnancy and HIV; How Will the World Respond?, Guttmacher Policy Review, 2007, 10(3):2-7.

Boonstra H, The Case for a New Approach to Sex Education Mounts; Will Policymakers Heed the Message?, Guttmacher Policy Review, 2007, 10(2):2-7.

Boonstra H, The Heart of the Matter: Public Funding of Abortion for Poor Women in the United States, Guttmacher Policy Review, 2007, 10(1):12-16.

Boonstra H, Meeting the Sexual and Reproductive Health Needs of People Living with HIV, In Brief, New York: Guttmacher Institute, 2006.

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

Boonstra H, Condoms, Contraceptives and Nonoxynol-9: Complex Issues Obscured by Ideology, The Guttmacher Report on Public Policy, 2004, 8(2):4-6, 14.

Jones RK, Boonstra H. Confidential Reproductive Health Services for Minors: The Potential Impact of Mandated Parental Involvement for Contraception. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. 2004, 36:182-191.

Boonstra H, The Role of Reproductive Health Providers in Preventing HIV, The Guttmacher Report on Public Policy, 2004, 7(4):7-10.

Boonstra H, Comprehensive Approach Needed To Combat Sexually Transmitted Infections Among Youth. The Guttmacher Report on Public Policy, 2004, 7(1):3-4,13.

Boonstra H, U.S. AIDS Policy: Priority On Treatment, Conservatives' Approach to Prevention, The Guttmacher Report on Public Policy, 2003, 6(3):1-3.

Boonstra H, Critics Charge Bush Mix of Science and Politics Is Unprecedented and Dangerous, The Guttmacher Report on Public Policy, 2003, 6(2):1-2,14.

Boonstra H, Emergency Contraception: Steps Being Taken to Improve Access, The Guttmacher Report on Public Policy, 2002, 5(5):10-13.

Boonstra H, Gold RB. Overhauling Welfare: Implications for Reproductive Health Policy in the United States. Journal of the American Medical Women’s Association. 2002, 57:41-46.

Boonstra H, Duran V, Gamble VN, Blumenthal P, Dominguez L, Pies C. The “Boom and Bust Phenomenon”: The Hopes, Dreams, and Broken Promises of the Contraceptive Revolution. Contraception. 2000, 61:9-25.