LEADERSHIP, ADVOCACY, AND POLICY

Individual and professional advocacy is essential to keeping reproductive healthcare safe, legal, and accessible. Educational and advocacy organizations have created many advanced curricula and structured electives to help programs integrate these opportunities into training (see Organizational Resources Table).

Leadership

Consider collaborating with faculty or reproductive health organizations to tap into other teaching, research, or advocacy projects during training. For example:

• Work with faculty to help lead didactic sessions for incoming trainees, such as values exploration or papaya/dragon fruit workshops.
• Speak at a meeting of Medical Students for Choice or Nurses for Sexual and Reproductive Health, and look for opportunities to mentor other trainees.
• Collaborate to improve or expand reproductive health services in your clinics. Successful projects have included protocols for emergency contraception access, and clinic integration of medication or procedural management of EPL or abortion.
• Collaborate on a research project, conference presentation, or article publication with guidance from faculty and community mentors.
• Participate in the Leadership Training Academy (PRH).
• Join a regional RHAP cluster or the national AAFP Reproductive Health Member Interest Group (MIG). For APCs join RHAP’s national APC Cluster, or Clinicians in Abortion Care at NAF.
• Connect with Doctors for America, a multi-speciality organization focused on physician advocacy with webinars, an annual conference, and the Copello Health Advocacy Fellowship.

Advocacy and Policy

Access to abortion care has been under increasing threat due to state and federal legislative restrictions, and religious mergers. For a summary of recent abortion laws, see Ch 1: Global Abortion Facts and U.S. Abortion Facts. Healthcare providers’ opinions and expertise are highly respected by both the public and legislators, thus have the potential to influence policy and legislation on local and national levels. Providers can be effective and powerful advocates with their wealth of patient stories, medical knowledge, understanding of research, and experience advocating on behalf of patients (Earnest 2010).

Patient stories can humanize people and shift the way lawmakers think about the complexity of abortion care and access. Be sure to utilize ethical storytelling practices and obtain consent before sharing people’s private experiences. More resources on ethical storytelling and working with abortion storytellers can be found at Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts and WeTestify, an organization founded and led by abortion storytellers.

Advocacy can take many forms, for example:

• Join relevant professional organizations, both locally and nationally. Dues help organizations lobby and advocate for providers and patients. And, you can work to propose educational content and policies to ensure reproductive health and justice are woven into the organizational culture and individual members’ training and experiences.
• Volunteer with a ballot amendment related to advancing or protecting the provision of reproductive health care.
• Partner with local organizations to harness your power as a provider to amplify and support their work.
• Build coalitions with community organizations to participate in direct action or grassroots efforts.
• Donate to and/or fundraise for local abortion funds or mutual aid groups to support access to care.
• Join a lobby day coordinated by a reproductive rights organization. Scheduling and talking points are usually provided by the organization. There are now many virtual lobby days in addition to in-person visits to legislators.
• Join a clinic or hospital committee on practice, training or quality to influence institutional policies.
• Write an op-ed about your experiences as a trainee or provider.
• Provide written or oral testimony when the state or local municipalities are considering policies to expand or restrict reproductive health services.
• Work within the state or national chapter of professional organizations to pass resolutions to influence policy.
• Join a specialty curriculum advisory or ACGME Residency Review Committee to ensure curricular inclusion of sexual and reproductive health.
• Advocate within organizations to develop and expand scope of practice
• Advocate for transparency in medical education regarding faith-based restrictions that may interfere with training.

Many organizations have chapters for trainees or early career clinicians, and provide funding for meeting attendance. For organizations that provide materials, support, and training for clinician advocates, see Organizational Resources Table below.