8th Edition Prologue

While the last 25 years have seen an overwhelming global trend toward liberalization of abortion laws, with nearly 50 countries worldwide enacting laws expanding legality, the United States (U.S.) stands as an outlier—1 of only 4 countries rolling back abortion rights. Within three years, the Dobbs decision dramatically reshaped the U.S. abortion landscape by overturning 50 years of constitutionally protected abortion rights, and opened up stark geographic divisions and access disparities between states hostile to abortion and those that protect it.

Citizens have galvanized widespread support, voting to secure abortion rights, while advocates and legislators enacted numerous laws to effectively create safe havens across the country, and help protect people  seeking abortion care and clinicians.  In California, TEACH joined reproductive health, rights, and justice organizations to form the California Future of Abortion Council. This collaboration mobilized efforts with the legislature and governor to mitigate the fallout from Roe’s reversal. We successfully partnered to implement concrete measures, including passage of a constitutional amendment and over 30 laws to expand access, and protect patients and providers. These legislative achievements were paired with a $200 million allocation in state funds to implement reproductive health programs. As TEACH develops the next generation of reproductive health champions and upholds our motto—Provide, Teach, Resist—we embrace the Reproductive Justice framework as our guiding light. Our north star remains: reproductive freedom for all, not just for some.

With incredible conviction and resilience, people continue to seek the services they need, while communities, providers and organizations have adapted to meet their needs. Abortion numbers have grown, even as patients faced tremendous barriers to care. There have been huge changes in where and how people access care. Abortion funds play a growing and indispensable role supporting those traveling out of state. People increasingly use medication abortion to end their pregnancies, often through telehealth and self-management, allowing many to access care in banned states under protective shield laws in haven states. We stand at a paradoxical moment, simultaneously closer to and further than ever from our vision of reproductive freedom and justice for all.

Now in its 22nd year, TEACH remains ever more committed to developing the next generation of diverse reproductive health champions through abortion training, mentorship, curriculum innovation, and advocacy. In 2023, we founded the Reproductive Health Service Corps, a state-funded initiative designed to train the entire healthcare team in abortion care. In 2025, we built on previous work to develop curriculum and expand clinical training and fellowship programs for advanced practice clinicians, and became the new home of the RHEDI residency program national network. As people access care through new modalities, we are innovating clinician training programs to adapt to this evolving healthcare landscape. As threats emerge, TEACH works with our advocacy coalitions to integrate the voices of abortion providers into policy formation.

And now, the looming threats of a hostile federal government add a new layer of urgency to our efforts to ensure the latest updates to the Curriculum, as we broaden our sights from training to becoming a national and global curriculum leader. The work we do in abortion care and training, especially when viewed through the lens of Reproductive Justice, is a way for us to resist restrictive policies, both for our patients and for ourselves.

We are thrilled to mark the collective nature and evolution of this Curriculum. Starting with a workbook for our own trainees, the Curriculum has grown to a comprehensive CME-accredited, peer-reviewed, and iterative Reproductive Justice curriculum for clinician training in abortion care to 18 weeks gestation. It is available as an online open-access textbook downloaded for use in all 50 U.S. states and over 100 countries. We are thrilled that it has been instrumental for so many trainees in learning to provide services to underserved rural, urban, and global communities.

Through its development over 2 decades and 8 Editions, the work of so many individuals – 12 Co-Editors, 60 Co-Authors, and nearly 300 Advisory Members – can still be traced in these pages. With each version, the Curriculum has become more representative of all providers and our larger community, and for this we are extraordinarily grateful and proud. When we share what we know, when we teach and mentor others, when we create pathways breaking down the barriers that have limited many, we are doing the work of Reproductive Justice ourselves. This Curriculum provides many ways to support reproductive autonomy, and we hope users will better counsel, destigmatize, assess, refer, manage, provide, advocate, and train future providers and leaders. But no matter the scope, we hope every user walks away with the knowledge and skills to support people in achieving equitable access to person-centered sexual and reproductive health care they deserve.

Flor Hunt MPA; TEACH Executive Director

Suzan Goodman MD, MPH; TEACH Co-Founder and Lead Editor