Reproductive Health Archives - ĢƵ /category/reproductive-health/ ĢƵ Wed, 04 Feb 2026 17:26:36 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Crossword Puzzling for Repro Justice /crossword-puzzling-for-repro-justice-2025/ /crossword-puzzling-for-repro-justice-2025/#respond Fri, 19 Dec 2025 08:00:23 +0000 /?p=20723 Crossword Puzzling for Repro Justice Created by the ĢƵ Repro Project for your puzzling fun, enjoy! Season’s Greetings! May your Holidays be filled with warm hugs, delicious foods, relaxation and renewal Also Check Out & Share – ĢƵ Reproductive Health Project eNews – Dec 20, 2025 Still We Rise: Building Community is Love and Hope...

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Crossword Puzzling for Repro Justice

Created by the ĢƵ Repro Project for your puzzling fun, enjoy!

Season’s Greetings!

May your Holidays be filled with warm hugs, delicious foods, relaxation and renewal

Also Check Out & Share – ĢƵ Reproductive Health Project eNews – Dec 20, 2025
Still We Rise: Building Community is Love and Hope in Action

 

 

ACROSS DOWN
3. One of the 3 true Mothers of Gynecology who’s name starts with A
6. Mife’s safe and effective companion
8. A medical intervention provided to individuals who need to end the medical condition of pregnancy (ACOG definition)
9. A framework developed in 1994 by a group of Black women gathered in Chicago connecting human rights, social justice and reproductive rights tenets
11. laws grant fetuses — and in some cases embryos, and fertilized eggs — the same legal rights and status given to born people, such as the right to life.
13. ____Residency Training Program, is a national initiative to integrate and enhance family planning training for obstetrics and gynecology residents.
14. ________ Act is a “zombie law”: Though long considered unconstitutional or unenforceable, it was never repealed and, with enough momentum, could be resuscitated and enforced.
16. One of the 3 true Mothers of Gynecology who’s name starts with B
1. Short name reference to the US Supreme Court decision over turning Roe v Wade
2. Abortion is _________ healthcare.
4. What the United Nations recognized and issued a declaration about in 1948
5. Four letter abbreviation for oldest, independent US medical student organization
7. One of the 3 true Mothers of Gynecology who’s name starts with L
10. Effective medication that is one of a two drug protocol that safely terminates a pregnancy
12. Unfounded labeling and resentment of people who seek and provide abortion care
15. ____-____ Abortion – this phrase has no clinical or medical significance.

Answer Sheet

Download Printable PDF

 

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for ĢƵ Repro Project Updates

 

 

 

 

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4 Amazing Summer 2026 Adventures in Learning with the ĢƵ Reproductive Health Project – Apply Today /4-amazing-summer-2026-adventures-in-learning-with-the-amsa-reproductive-health-project-apply-today/ /4-amazing-summer-2026-adventures-in-learning-with-the-amsa-reproductive-health-project-apply-today/#respond Thu, 23 Oct 2025 15:55:15 +0000 /?p=20589 ĢƵ Abortion Care & Reproductive Justice Institutes – Summer 2026 Four In-person Learning Opportunities the Summer in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville, NC! Summer 2026 – Applications Open Now – Seats Limited! Four Date Options in Summer 2026: May 14 – 17 (Summer A) June 11 – 14 (Summer B) July 30 – August...

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ĢƵ Abortion Care & Reproductive Justice Institutes – Summer 2026

Four In-person Learning Opportunities the Summer in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville, NC!

Summer 2026 – Applications Open Now – Seats Limited!

Four Date Options in Summer 2026:
May 14 – 17 (Summer A)
June 11 – 14 (Summer B)
July 30 – August 2 (Summer C)
August 20 – 23 (Summer D)

No cost for selected applicants – Scholarships cover ALL expenses
Apply Today!

 

If YOU are a medical student based in the U.S., an ĢƵ member* and YOU, like ĢƵ, believe:

  • reproductive health services, including abortion care, are essential to comprehensive health care,
  • legal, safe, voluntary abortions should be available to all who need them, regardless of how much they earn, who they work for, or what state they live in, and
  • both Undergraduate Medical Education (UME) and Graduate Medical Education (GME) programs should offer abortion education and training.

If YOU uphold the fundamental principles of reproductive justice:**

  • the right to have children,
  • the right to not have children, and
  • the right to nurture the children we have in a safe and healthy environment.

If YOU are interested in becoming part of a diverse physician workforce that includes highly skilled, culturally sensitive physicians prepared to provide abortion services to those who need them in various health care workplaces.

And, YOU are available ANY of these four date options:

  • May 14 – 17 (Summer A)
  • June 11 – 14 (Summer B)
  • July 30 – August 2 (Summer C)
  • August 20 – 23 (Summer D)

READ ON!

The ĢƵ Abortion Care & Reproductive Health Project is excited to host 4 in-person Abortion Care & Reproductive Justice Institutes this summer.
Each Institute will engage 10 U.S. based medical students in thought-provoking, dynamic conversations, as well as issue education, and hands-on clinical skill-building, with key experts working in abortion care, reproductive health and education, research, or reproductive and social justice.

Our retreat-like setting is a beautiful private location nestled deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The Institutes are designed to provide deep dive opportunities to build knowledge, skills, and connections in a supportive, nurturing and Love-centered community, with a focus on finding and connecting with joy as we work on challenging issues facing our communities and future practice as physicians.

Clinical skill-building sessions will include a MVA “papaya” workshop and values-clarification training.

We will explore the impact of the Dobbs decision on reproductive health access, practice and policies at the state level, as well as medication abortion and self-managed abortion. Learning opportunities will also include:

  • effective messaging communications
  • networking and advocacy training
  • building power and your circles of influence
  • identifying and engaging reproductive freedom champions in your state
  • values-based research and using data to make change.

The ĢƵ Reproductive Health Project provides resources and on-going support to organize local education and skill-building sessions for future physicians around the United States.
Institute participants will be encouraged and supported to share the knowledge and skills they will gain through research project posters, journal articles, blog posts, social media, or organizing local events during the 2025-2026 academic year. Local events could include, but are not limited to: clinical skills-building, networking and advocacy training, issue education, understanding state reproductive health policies, and values-based messaging and research.

The program begins on Thursday evening with a group dinner and ends after breakfast on Sunday morning. In addition to didactic and clinical workshop-style learning, there will be ample time for informal conversations, delicious meals and snacks, walking in the woods, star-gazing, and relaxing in the hot-tubs and around the fire. Each participant will have their own bedroom, some bathrooms will be shared. Meals will be prepared together.

  • Want to know more about what an ĢƵ Repro Institute is really like?
    Read what a M4 student who joined us last summer had to say about the experience
    Recharging Your Medical Passion: The Power of a Retreat
    Why Every Medical Student Should Do a Medical Retreat (for any specialty)

Successful applicants will receive reimbursements (up to $600) to cover their travel expenses (students make their own travel arrangements). All meals, on-site training supplies, and transportation from the to the retreat location are provided at no cost.

DEADLINES:

  • Application deadline for ALL 2026 Institutes is Sunday, March 29 at 11:59pmPT
  • Applicants are accepted on a rolling basis and will be notified of acceptance at least 30 days before the Institute they are selected for
  • Selected applicant must confirm attendance within 7 days of notification of their selection

Upon completion of the Institute, certificates of participation to add to your CV will be provided.

Applications Open Now – Seats Limited
Apply Today!

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For more information email rhp@amsa.org

*ĢƵ membership info link
**Source –

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Voices of Primary Care: Dr. Kelly Thibert – Family Physician & Abortion Provider in Nevada /voices-of-primary-care-dr-kelly-thibert-family-physician-abortion-provider-in-nevada/ /voices-of-primary-care-dr-kelly-thibert-family-physician-abortion-provider-in-nevada/#respond Wed, 08 Oct 2025 18:28:56 +0000 /?p=20530   Voices of Primary Care: Dr. Kelly Thibert, Family Physician & Abortion Provider in Nevada Written by Nikitha Balaji, ĢƵ National President   In celebration of ĢƵ’s annual National Primary Care Week, we are uplifting the voices and stories of primary care physicians whose work embodies the heart of primary care – a path to...

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Voices of Primary Care:
Dr. Kelly Thibert, Family Physician & Abortion Provider in Nevada

Written by Nikitha Balaji, ĢƵ National President

 

In celebration of ĢƵ’s annual National Primary Care Week, we are uplifting the voices and stories of primary care physicians whose work embodies the heart of primary care – a path to medicine which is grounded in equity, community, and patient-centered medicine. Throughout this series of interviews, we invite readers into conversations about the power of primary care, the unique joys and challenges of the field, and the many paths one might take in pursuing this calling to heal.

For our first installment, I had the honor of speaking with Dr. Kelly Thibert, DO, MPH, a family medicine physician and comprehensivist practicing ambulatory medicine in Nevada, past ĢƵ National President, and current Chair to the ĢƵ Foundation Board of Directors. Together, we reflected on her journey to family medicine, the impact of and need for primary care in our present moment, and the continued place that ĢƵ takes in shaping Dr. Thibert’s path as an inspiring physician-activist.

 

Nikitha: Welcome Dr. Thibert! Could you get us started today by introducing yourself and telling us a bit about the primary care work you do?

Dr. Thibert: Absolutely, thanks so much for having me. I’m so excited to be here for National Primary Care Week. I’m Dr. Kelly Thibert – my pronouns are she/her. I’m currently a family medicine physician in Las Vegas, working for a branch of the federal government, where I’m providing care for folks who are 18+. With that, I am providing abortion care, gender-affirming health care, and primary care, and am seeing folks on a day-to-day basis in the ambulatory setting. In that role, I’m still able to participate in advocacy and activism in various ways, both within my job and outside, really encompassing what it means to practice family medicine.

Nikitha: That is so amazing. It sounds like in many of those different parts of primary care that you practice within, that skill set and orientation towards advocacy is so important, especially at this current moment that we’re in.

What initially inspired you to pursue family medicine, and where did you see ĢƵ shepherding you in that journey, in addition to other early advocacy experiences?

Dr. Thibert: ĢƵ was vital, first in helping me get into medical school. It was the reason I joined ĢƵ. Then, I learned that ĢƵ was so much more than getting into medical school. ĢƵ taught me what osteopathic physicians were, and I’m proudly an osteopathic physician. ĢƵ helped me to learn about the different specialties that I could consider.

It wasn’t until my fourth year, getting ready to go into my presidency year within ĢƵ, that I really had a great experience in a family medicine setting. That was at a rotation where I was at an FQHC – a federally qualified healthcare center – rotating with this incredible family medicine doc. He was practicing full spectrum: pediatrics, hospice care, treating patients living with HIV, participating in public health by means of both encouraging and advocating for his patients with them and alongside them in and outside of the clinical setting.

It was then that I realized that these are all the things that I want to do in family medicine. I was so excited about every rotation that I always had in medical school and ultimately that boiled down to: this might be family medicine that I want to do. That rotation really solidified it for me.

ĢƵ was there every step of the way, both as a pre-med and especially as a medical student. It was really helpful to have a space to come back to when I was learning. Medicine has a lot of flaws in it – sometimes clinically, a lot of times politically. ĢƵ was my safe space to come to learn how I could advocate for my patients and for myself as a physician in training. It was important for me to be able to show up in a place where I felt safe, where I felt heard and supported, where I could learn tools to learn how to advocate, both within my medical school and then my residency, and then use that to be the physician that I wanted to be.

ĢƵ has always been the medical school without walls, and so ĢƵ has always provided me with all of those additional things that I wanted to learn in medical school that just were never in the curriculum. It really supplemented everything that I wanted to learn to be the best-rounded physician that I can be. And quite frankly, ĢƵ still teaches me as an attending physician, all the time, still reading and learning and participating in ĢƵ activities. It was really beneficial and necessary for me to be a part of ĢƵ, to be the best family medicine doc.

Nikitha: That is so beautiful. It’s so lovely to hear how ĢƵ has partly shaped your journey towards family medicine. I’m hearing so much about how ĢƵ provided that safe space for you to explore medicine and all of its points of beauty, but also its flaws.

We’re having this discussion at a time where evidence-based medicine is increasingly under attack, we’re seeing cuts to care on a federal level, and we’re seeing how that places access to healthcare in peril. I’m wondering how you were able to translate that safe space that you experienced at ĢƵ to what you do now as a family medicine physician, meeting this current moment?

Dr. Thibert: Yeah, this is so important, especially at this time, so I really appreciate you asking that. Medicine, and specifically the physician frontline, is where a lot of patients come to first when they have questions. Most specifically, though, they come to their family doctor. The person who has known them longitudinally, someone who oftentimes knows their entire family. They’ve known them outside of the clinic walls, which really informs how we take care of our patients in family medicine.

Number one, we are the most trusted resource for patients. We’re the place people come to in order to ask questions. Even if they do their research online, they come to us to confirm that this is, in fact, actually accurate. “Should I listen to this? Or what should I consider?”

We are the people that patients partner with, and it’s crucial for us to still be here, speaking up, and showing folks that we can help them understand what is actually evidence-based. There are things out there that come across as evidence-based that we know, when we read and we delve a little deeper, are not. Our patients are susceptible to falling prey to that. We are the specialty that’s really going to help our patients and our communities stay healthy and help provide them with evidence-based healthcare and options.

Family medicine is advocacy at baseline. We’re going to keep being advocates and activists in family medicine – speaking up for justice, speaking up against misinformation, and bringing our voice to Capitol Hill, our communities, and our states for what our patients – and ourselves, as physicians and physicians in training – not only need but deserve as humans living in this country.

Nikitha: It’s so lovely to hear you reflect on family medicine and how you’re meeting this moment in your specialty and the unique role that you’re able to occupy in the field of medicine through your primary care orientation.

For all those who are aspiring to family medicine and who are tuning in to this National Primary Care Week, what parting message would you leave for them?

Dr. Thibert: I would say choose family medicine – we’re the best specialty. I’m not just saying that because I’m a little biased as a family doc.

Truly, we can do it all. We can deliver babies, we can be there for people’s last breaths, we can help with an entire family in one visit, which is so unheard of. We can be there on Capitol Hill. We can do it all.

You can really choose your own adventure, too. You can choose if you want to do a particular part of family medicine or you can do the whole thing and be a comprehensivist. You can really find what you love in medicine, find what you’re passionate about, and be there and succeed in it, and be there for your patients and for your communities.

I want you to just choose family medicine. There is a whole great world of family docs here ready to accept you with open arms, and we could not be more excited to stand next to you, to be your colleagues, and to be in this fight for social justice together.

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Watch & Share Nikitha’s interview with Dr. Thibert on @ĢƵnational Instagram

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1st Prize Med Student June Essay – When Decisions Redefine Us. /when-decisions-redefine-us/ /when-decisions-redefine-us/#respond Tue, 24 Jun 2025 16:25:47 +0000 /?p=20231 Summer 2025 Essay Contest 1st Prize Winner – Medical Student Category When Decisions Redefine Us. Essay written byTemiloluwa Owolabi   I often wonder where I can practice medicine without compromising the values that are dear to me, if pursuing certain specialties also means preparing for legal battles or if I can be the doctor my...

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Summer 2025 Essay Contest
1st Prize Winner – Medical Student Category

When Decisions Redefine Us.
Essay written byTemiloluwa Owolabi

 

I often wonder where I can practice medicine without compromising the values that are dear to me, if pursuing certain specialties also means preparing for legal battles or if I can be the doctor my patients need without putting my license or future at risk. These questions stay with me, not just because they challenge my career plans but because they shake the core of why I chose medicine in the first place. Yet here I am, a future physician preparing to enter the U.S. healthcare system in the aftermath of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, and these uncertainties shape every decision I make.

Born and raised in Nigeria, where conversations about reproductive health were rare and abortion was both illegal and morally condemned. The idea was unthinkable. If I had become pregnant outside of marriage, the decision would have already been made for me. There would be no choice. Choosing medicine was my way of breaking that silence. I believed and still believe that my body belongs to me, and the decisions concerning it should too.

I thought of the United States as a symbol of patient-centered care and medical autonomy but the Dobbs decision in 2022 changed that perception. It did not just overturn decades of legal protection for abortion; it challenged the foundation of ethical practice in medicine. The boundary between healthcare and government interference became dangerously unclear. Twelve states have banned abortion entirely, and many others have implemented harsh restrictions. Even where abortion remains legal, the impact of Dobbs lingers.

Medical schools hesitate to teach essential procedures. Students are uncertain about what they can safely ask.
Providers second-guess what they can say or do. Fear replaces trust, and silence replaces dialogue.

Planning to practice medicine in the U.S., I have always had a clear picture of the kind of physician I wanted to be. I imagined sitting across patients in their most vulnerable moments, offering clarity instead of confusion and standing by their choices with empathy and strength. I was taught that medicine was about trust and honoring autonomy. I never imagined that in a country I once viewed as a global model of medical freedom, those values would be under threat.

The Dobbs decision did not just change a law; it reminded me that even in places with strong institutions,
basic human rights are never guaranteed and that borders certainly do not protect rights.

I went from planning to apply broadly to residency programs across the U.S. based on mentorship and academic fit to weighing in legal landscapes and abortion policies. This legal and ethical uncertainty places future physicians in a difficult position. The divide between what we are taught is right and what is legally allowed continues to widen. I want to grow into the best physician I can be but I must also consider where I will be legally protected for practicing evidence-based care.

Scrolling through TikTok one day, I came across a video by creator Becca Bloom, who said,

“Most criticisms fail because they only recognize what is broken, not what will work better within the constraints.”

That got me thinking: what can we, as future physicians, do within the constraints of the Dobbs ruling? As political forces reshape healthcare, we must assert our voices not just in hospitals but also in policy conversations. Physicians must now take more active roles in legal and social movements that advocate for reproductive rights. We are entering an era where healing also means resisting harmful policies that threaten patient autonomy and dignity.

Supporting patients’ decisions go beyond presenting options. It requires creating a space where patients feel safe and heard, regardless of where they come from or what choices they face. Our duty doesn’t just stop at the bedside with individual patients. It means advocating for them, educating ourselves and others, challenging harmful narratives, and integrating reproductive care into everyday medical conversations. Advocacy can simply involve volunteering with abortion support networks, writing to lawmakers about harmful legislation or speaking up when a policy undermines what we know to be good, evidence-based care. As medical students, residents and future physicians, the choices we make shape the future of medicine. I believe medicine, at its core, is a form of resistance against illnesses, injustice and silence.

This is not just a reflection; it is a promise. Because, in the end, it is not only about who makes the decision – it is about who has to live with it.

 

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2 More Chances this Summer to Get Published & Win Cash Prizes!

Summer 2025 Essay Contest Series isOpen to All ĢƵ Members!
Separate Competitions for Premeds & Medical Students

Learn More & Submit Here


Explore the ĢƵ Reproductive Health Project
Find news, tips, tools, opportunities & more!

for ĢƵ Repro Project Updates

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1st Prize Premed June Essay – Decisions Beyond the Exam Room: Practicing Autonomy in a Post-Dobbs America /decisions-beyond-the-exam-room/ /decisions-beyond-the-exam-room/#respond Tue, 24 Jun 2025 16:20:59 +0000 /?p=20230 Summer 2025 Essay Contest 1st Prize Winner – Premedical Student Category Decisions Beyond the Exam Room: Practicing Autonomy in a Post-Dobbs America Essay written by Pranitha Kaza   The summer of 2022 marked more than a Supreme Court ruling; it was a turning point for how I, and many aspiring physicians, think about care, ethics,...

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Summer 2025 Essay Contest
1st Prize Winner – Premedical Student Category

Decisions Beyond the Exam Room: Practicing Autonomy in a Post-Dobbs America
Essay written by Pranitha Kaza

 

The summer of 2022 marked more than a Supreme Court ruling; it was a turning point for how I, and many aspiring physicians, think about care, ethics, and community. When the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturned decades of legal precedent protecting abortion access, I felt grief, but I also felt clarity. In a moment when the boundaries between medicine and politics collapsed so visibly, even though I was only at the start of my undergraduate career at the time, I knew that my commitment to becoming a physician would require not just clinical training, but a lifelong engagement with advocacy.

Like many pre-medical students, I was once introduced to medical education as being a linear path: do well in school, gain experience, apply, train, and serve. But since Dobbs, the questions I ask myself about that path have shifted. Will I be trained to provide full-spectrum reproductive care? Can I safely advocate for patients in states where abortion is banned or criminalized? How do I reconcile the oath to do no harm with legal mandates that force harm: delaying care for miscarriages, forcing continuation of nonviable pregnancies, or discouraging patients from seeking help?

These aren’t just hypothetical concerns. In states with abortion bans, medical students and residents are being trained in limited environments, unable to learn essential skills or discuss options openly.
And patients, especially those who are low-income, BIPOC, or undocumented, are shouldering the weight of that silence and fear.

I’ve worked with community organizations focused on bodily autonomy, patient education, and reproductive health access to bring it to my own campus. Through a campus student organization, Support, Health, and Education (S.H.E.) for Women, I’ve helped organize and advocate for menstrual equity and distribute accurate, accessible health information about contraception in spaces where stigma and disinformation run deep. This work has shown me the power of local advocacy and the harm of national decisions that ignore it.The Dobbs ruling didn’t just impact clinics; it disrupted the trust between communities and their providers, raising questions about who medicine serves and who it excludes.

That loss of trust is especially dangerous in a field like medicine, where consent and confidentiality are cornerstones of ethical care.

As a future physician, I want to be in a position to affirm, not control; to protect, not punish.

I want every patient, regardless of their zip code or income, to know that their body belongs to them and that my job is to support their decisions, not impose my own or those of the government.But that commitment requires preparation. It means working with mentors who believe in autonomy, even when it’s politically inconvenient. And it means staying grounded in community, not just learning from textbooks, but from doulas, abortion storytellers, midwives, and patients themselves. The hidden curriculum in medicine is shaped just as much by politics as it is by professors. And the Dobbs decision calls me to be vigilant beyond reproductive health.

If the state can insert itself into one kind of care, it can do so elsewhere: gender-affirming care, contraception access, maternal health, even end-of-life decisions. Each of these domains rests on the same foundation: that people deserve to make informed choices about their bodies, free from coercion. As someone entering this profession, I see it as my responsibility to reinforce that foundation: not only in my practice, but in policy, research, and education.

There is grief in this moment. But there is also resolve. The surge of organizing in the wake of Dobbs, from youth activists to physicians risking their licenses to care for patients, is a testament to what’s possible when we refuse to normalize injustice. Thirteen states have moved to enshrine abortion rights in their constitutions since the ruling, and more are mobilizing. These decisions matter, too. They remind us that patient-centered care doesn’t end in the exam room. It lives in our institutions, our ballots, our classrooms, and our daily conversations.

The impact of Dobbs has been seismic, but it has also clarified my purpose. I am not becoming a physician in spite of this moment—I am becoming one because of it. My path is not just about learning to heal; it’s about helping build a system where everyone has the right and resources to make decisions about their own body. That is the kind of medicine I believe in. That is the kind of future I’m fighting for.

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2 More Chances this Summer to Get Published & Win Cash Prizes!

Summer 2025 Essay Contest Series isOpen to All ĢƵ Members!
Separate Competitions for Premeds & Medical Students

Learn More & Submit Here


Explore the ĢƵ Reproductive Health Project
Find news, tips, tools, opportunities & more!

for ĢƵ Repro Project Updates

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Reproductive Justice & 15 Years of The Affordable Care Act /reproductive-justice-15-years-of-the-affordable-care-act/ /reproductive-justice-15-years-of-the-affordable-care-act/#respond Fri, 28 Mar 2025 14:00:48 +0000 /?p=20055   SPOTLIGHT ON HEALTH & REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE Reproductive Justice & 15 Years of The Affordable Care Act Written by Becky Martin, ĢƵ Senior Manager of Reproductive Health Advocacy Sunday, March 23rd, marked 15 years since President Obama signed into law The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare as many call it. Since...

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SPOTLIGHT ON HEALTH & REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE

Reproductive Justice & 15 Years of The Affordable Care Act

Written by Becky Martin, ĢƵ Senior Manager of Reproductive Health Advocacy

Sunday, March 23rd, marked 15 years since President Obama signed into law The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare as many call it. Since its hard-won passage have signed up for coverage through ACA marketplaces – that means now get their health care coverage via the ACA. An have gained coverage through ACA supported Medicaid Expansion in 41 states and DC.

ճ󲹳’s who now have affordable health care coverage here in the United States — thanks to those who knew our nation could do better and
raised their voices for change, and didn’t take no as the answer.

We still have a way to go to achieve ĢƵ’s long-time goal of high-quality, affordable, accessible, sustainable, and equitable healthcare for all in our nation, and join the rest of the countries in the industrialized world in providing universal health care ensuring the human right to health care (Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Article 25).

At ĢƵ we believe reproductive rights are human rights. With our Reproductive Health Project we explore the connections between reproductive justice and health justice, and work to help students lift their voices for reproductive freedom and health care for all. We invite you to explore and share the resources below, to celebrate the gains we’ve made, and know that even in the face of the turmoil rising in our country today ĢƵ’s vision of HEALTH CARE FOR ALL is absolutely achievable & YOU can find YOUR people in ĢƵ!

 

– CBPP

– KFF

  • – KFF

Deeper Dives:

  • – KFF
  • Pending Threat to ACA Coverage – , CBPP
  • Steep Premium Increases if Enhanced Subsidies Expire – – KFF
  • – Families USA

 

 

 


 

Medicaid & ACA Medicaid Expansion in YOUR State & Congressional District

  • – KFF

  • & Could be Covered if All States Adopted ACA Medicaid Expansion – KFF
  • – KFF

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

– HealthCare.gov

: Importance & Impact – NWLC

: A Critical Policy That Must Be Protected – Guttmacher Institute

Deeper Dives:

  • – KFF
  • – CoverHer, NWLC
  • – Upstream

 


 

– KFF

Deeper Dives:

  • – CMS
  • – JAMA
  • . – Century Foundation

 


 

Preventive Care Coverage for:


Deeper Dives:

  • KFF

 

 


 

No gender-based premiums:
KFF

 

 

 

 

 

 


Insurers Cannot Limit Coverage Amounts
KFF

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

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Walking in the Footsteps of Courage /walking-in-the-footsteps-of-courage/ /walking-in-the-footsteps-of-courage/#respond Thu, 13 Mar 2025 16:04:40 +0000 /?p=20025   SPOTLIGHT ON ABORTION CARE & REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE Walking in the Footsteps of Courage Written by Joy Udoh, ĢƵ Reproductive Health Project Fellow There are many exciting things about the field of OB/GYN that I am looking forward to as July approaches: the joy of supporting a patient through all nine months of gestation, providing...

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SPOTLIGHT ON ABORTION CARE & REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE

Walking in the Footsteps of Courage

Written by Joy Udoh, ĢƵ Reproductive Health Project Fellow

There are many exciting things about the field of OB/GYN that I am looking forward to as July approaches: the joy of supporting a patient through all nine months of gestation, providing counseling on contraceptive care, and helping a young patient understand the changes that her body is undergoing. But, there are also things that concern me. A friend of mine recently reached out to find out how I had been. They wanted to know if match day had happened already but also how I was feeling about the future of my role in OB/GYN under the present social and political landscape.

The question perfectly encapsulated the mixed emotions that I have felt in the past months. In many ways, I feel eager to move on to the next milestone in my medical career but, this feeling is stymied by apprehension about the state of reproductive healthcare.

What does it mean that hospitals are walking back their efforts to promote
diversity, equity, and inclusion?

Will I have to step aside as ICE officials raid a labor and delivery unit?

Can a state I don’t practice in file a lawsuit against me for
providing abortion care to a patient that requests it?

I used to think that I would be able to look to medical institutions who have built the foundation of my training on the oath to Do No Harm for direction during times like these. This has proven to be wrong as I watch the medical institution inch closer and closer to crossing the line of harm in some cases and outrightly leaping over it in others either through complacency, inaction, turning a blind eye or demurring to authoritarian demands.

As Abortion Provider Appreciation Day approached this year, I kept feeling frustrated because in an ideal world, it shouldn’t be courageous to do the right thing: to provide abortion care as part of the spectrum of support that I am able to give to my future patients. But that world doesn’t yet exist. However, there are individuals and coalitions that not only understand the impetus to Do No Harm but also act in accordance with their beliefs. They understand that the ever changing chimera of legality is often a tool of racism, sexism and eugenics. I have long since turned my gaze from the institution to these groups of people who embody the values that I set out to uphold as a young physician.

I recently watched , a documentary about an underground group of women that provided thousands of safe abortions in Chicago during the 1970s and something that one of the former Jane members said has remained with me:

“We did this not just because of the need, but a philosophical obligation to
disrespect a law that disrespected women.”

Sometimes, courage looks like a group of individuals answering a philosophical obligation and staring defiantly in the face of injustice masquerading itself as a respect for life.

In reflecting on my friend’s questions, one of the enduring emotions during my turmoil has been hope.

I draw my courage from the people who have come before me and faced the same things
and insisted on justice nonetheless.

I have the path that they have paved and I will use it as my guide.

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Celebrating Abortion Care Providers Who Do It with Love – Puzzling Fun with ĢƵ Repro! /celebrating-abortion-care-providers-who-do-it-with-love/ /celebrating-abortion-care-providers-who-do-it-with-love/#respond Wed, 12 Mar 2025 05:00:40 +0000 /?p=19981 Created by ĢƵ Repro Project for your puzzling fun! We share this puzzle as part of our week of honoring and recognition of Abortion Provider Appreciation Day 2025 Visit@ĢƵnationalandOn Callto explore and share more throughout this week Find the words below in the gird above, words can be horizontal, vertical, backward or diagonal   Accomplished...

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Created by ĢƵ Repro Project for your puzzling fun!
We share this puzzle as part of our week of honoring and recognition of Abortion Provider Appreciation Day 2025

VisitandOn Callto explore and share more throughout this week

Find the words below in the gird above, words can be horizontal, vertical, backward or diagonal

 

Accomplished

Gutsy

Responsive

Accountable

Listeners

Skilled

Adventurous

Loving

Smart

Brave

Kindhearted

Supportive

Considerate

Present

Spirited

Courageous

Professional

Strong

Fearless

Resolute

Valiant

 

 

*Images Celebrate Abortion Care Providers on March 10 and Every Day! Learn more – Find Resources and

Have fun puzzling & please share with your friends!

Download Puzzle

Download Answer Sheet

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Why Can’t it Just be Okay – A Poem about Abortion Care /why-cant-it-just-be-okay-a-poem-about-abortion-care/ /why-cant-it-just-be-okay-a-poem-about-abortion-care/#respond Tue, 11 Mar 2025 15:53:36 +0000 /?p=20007   SPOTLIGHT ON ABORTION CARE & REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE Why Can’t it Just be Okay – A Poem about Abortion Care Written by Aliye Runyan, MD and published originally within Poetry for Sexual and Reproductive Justice – a collection of poems curated by the Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters (SRHM)* Dr. Runyan now serves as the...

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SPOTLIGHT ON ABORTION CARE & REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE

Why Can’t it Just be Okay – A Poem about Abortion Care

Written by Aliye Runyan, MD and published originally within
– a collection of poems curated by the Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters (SRHM)*
Dr. Runyan now serves as the ĢƵ Reproductive Health Project Consultant

We share this poem as part of our week of honoring and recognition of Abortion Provider Appreciation Day 2025

Art and Medicine = a Powerful Combination

Visit and On Call to explore and share more throughout this week

 

Why can’t it just be okay

Routine

Mundane

Another medical procedure that we accept

Can sometimes be necessary,

Life saving,

Difficult –

But not always.

Not every end to a pregnancy is sad

Some pregnancies end in joyous birth

Some end with grief for what could have been

Some end with a sigh of relief

Freedom to be a parent or not to be

Freedom to choose one’s path in life

Abortion is an act of love

Abortion is common

Safe

Should not be an undue burden to access

Why can’t it just be okay

The story of abortion is made to be

Black and white

Good vs evil

When it is simply a part of life

Part of a person’s reproductive journey

Part of being a human

Abortion is an act of love

Why can’t it just be okay

Laying the Foundations for a Future Change

Learn More & Read or Download the Collection

WatchPoets Read Poems atLaunch of SRHM Poetry Collection on Sexual & Reproductive Justice

Held on Human Rights Day, December 10, 2021

Watch Poets Read Poems at SRHM Poetry Fair Sexual & Reproductive Justice

Held in celebration of International Women’s Day 2022

 

*SRHM journal is a peer-reviewed, international, open access journal that explores emerging, neglected and marginalized issues across the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Submit a paper for Open Issue 2025 –

 


 

More to Explore & Share from SRHM

SRHM Special Journal Collection for Human Rights Day 2024
Watch Above or

SRHM Special Event – Feb 25, 2025
Watch Above or

We Can and Must Safeguard SRHR Progress and Resist Regression:
We Have Come Too Far to Let It All Slip Away

 


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for ĢƵ Repro Project Updates

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Today and Every Day, We Celebrate Abortion Providers /today-and-every-day-we-celebrate-abortion-providers/ /today-and-every-day-we-celebrate-abortion-providers/#respond Mon, 10 Mar 2025 16:27:25 +0000 /?p=19996 SPOTLIGHT ON ABORTION CARE & REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE Today and Every Day, We Celebrate Abortion Providers Written by Jeff Koetje, MD, ĢƵ Reproductive Health Programming Strategist Today, March 10, marks Abortion Provider Appreciation Day (APAD), a day dedicated to recognizing the courage and commitment of healthcare providers who offer abortion care, and celebrating the folks who...

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SPOTLIGHT ON ABORTION CARE & REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE

Today and Every Day, We Celebrate Abortion Providers

Written by Jeff Koetje, MD, ĢƵ Reproductive Health Programming Strategist

Today, March 10, marks Abortion Provider Appreciation Day (APAD), a day dedicated to recognizing the courage and commitment of healthcare providers who offer abortion care, and celebrating the folks who ensure that those who need abortions can get them. Especially since the Dobbs decision in 2022, abortion care providers have increasingly faced threats, intimidation, violence, and legal repercussions for providing an essential healthcare service. Today, we honor their work, acknowledge the challenges they face, and shower them with gratitude, appreciation, and love.

On this day, each year, we pay homage to Dr. David Gunn and countless other abortion providers who have devoted their lives to abortion care, and who, in some cases, have lost their own lives to the violence of the anti-abortion movement. he was the first provider to be killed solely for his work as an abortion provider.

Beginning in 1996, as a way to honor Dr. Gunn’s life and work,
and to honor all of the courageous, compassionate people who provide abortion care,
March 10 became the
.

Dr. Gunn’s compassionate and empathetic care brought in patients from near and far to him. Through his work, he provided life-affirming and life-saving care to those who needed an abortion.

Abortion Provider Appreciation Day is a day – as good as any – for those of us who work on the ĢƵ Reproductive Health Project to reflect on the meaning of our work, in relation to the work of those whom we honor and lift up today. The ĢƵ Reproductive Health Project has a primary purpose of enriching the abortion provider training pathway by supporting and nurturing future physicians who will provide abortion care as part of their clinical practice. Additionally, we engage with any and all future physicians who are interested in learning how to more effectively use their social, professional, and political power to advocate for reproductive health and rights, in alignment with the framework(s) of the Reproductive Justice Movement. While our project is, at the highest level, a project of undergraduate medical education and training about abortion care and family planning, it is also, at its core, a project that seeks to make a meaningful contribution to the projects of reproductive freedom, reproductive justice, and collective liberation.

The ĢƵ Repro Project is celebrating APAD 2025 in several ways, and we are kicking things off with a series of social media posts each day this week, with messages of love and affirmation for our abortion care colleagues here in the US and everywhere in the world. We’ll also be featuring short video segments of conversations that Araam Abboud, ĢƵ Repro Project Intern, had with abortion providers with whom the ĢƵ Repro Project works closely, including our beloved Dr. Aliye Runyan and Dr. Kristyn Brandi. Check out these daily posts .

Throughout this week and well beyond this week, we are taking action against abortion stigma. Unfounded stigma perpetuated around abortion care hovers over patients and providers alike -– together we can break down these stigma, recognize the harms they cause, and make change in our institutions, practices and communities. To that end we are pleased to announce and invite you to participate in our first ĢƵ Repro Spring Friend-Raiser!

Throughout March and April special opportunities and resources designed to help break down abortion care stigma will be shared via our Repro eNews, Spotlights in ĢƵ On Call, and local gatherings with ĢƵ Chapters, members and like-minded colleagues. Prizes and special funding to support gatherings will be awarded to participating ĢƵ members.

Here are 2 opportunities to get things rolling!

  1. Invite your friends and classmates to sign-up for our ĢƵ Repro eNews: the first 20 ĢƵ members who get 5 friends to sign-up and put YOUR NAME in the “How did you learn about ĢƵ Repro eNews” box will win the ĢƵ T-shirt or mug of their choice.
  2. Organize a Watch Party with your friends or classmates of the new award-winning documentary film . This film reveals the dire impact of losing access to healthcare—and the extraordinary efforts of the women and men fighting on the frontline to regain those rights. Help to organize watch parties, including limited funding for food and beverages, are available through the ĢƵ Repro Project. The film is available for viewing in the U.S and Canada at no cost until April 28 – watch the preview .

Find info and sign-up to organize a Watch Party sign-up here.

Stay Tuned, more tools and resources to break down abortion care stigma to come!

The ĢƵ Repro Project honors, celebrates, and loves abortion providers; and we honor, celebrate, and love future abortion providers and those just getting started in their practice of care. We know that this is an incredibly challenging (and exhausting) moment, and we know that the stakes are so high. The way you show up for people needing abortion care inspires us to show up for the work necessary to ensure that there will always be a well-trained professional available for every person who needs an abortion, no matter when, no matter where, no matter why. Today, and every day, we appreciate, honor, and love every abortion provider!

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