Clinician Advocacy

Take Action

Download, modify, and present your own American Academy of Family Physician policy resolutions. The resolutions listed below are currently being used by clinicians across the country to advocate at state and national affiliates of the American Academy of Family Physicians. Feel free to use these templates or as guidelines to drafting your own resolutions.  If you want to help advocating for these resolutions email network@reproductiveaccess.org to be connected to local and national advocacy efforts, including the Reproductive Health Access Network and local Clusters.

For a comprehensive list of current and past policy priorities and AAFP-approved resolutions, please visit our AAFP Resolutions page. 

2017 Policy Priorities and Resolutions

• Increase Diversity in Family Medicine
• Support Telemedicine Medication Abortion
• New Search Options for Specific Residency Characteristics in the Residency Directory on the AAFP Website
• Screening, Intervening, and Advocating to Address Food Insecurity

 

Advocate for reproductive health in professional organizations

Professional organizations allow clinicians to strategize, share, and mobilize around improving reproductive health. From presenting at the organization’s annual conference on a reproductive health topic to starting a member group on improving abortion access, membership is a vehicle for creating change.

 

The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP)

The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) seeks to improve the health of patients, families, and communities. The AAFP sets policy and makes recommendations that shape the scope of family practice. Get involved in AAFP by submitting scientific presentations, propose new policies, submit publications and letters to the scientific journal. Visit the AAFP website for membership information.

The AAFP also has a Reproductive Health Member Interest Group, a community of family physicians who work on reproductive health issues within the AAFP. Visit the member interest group website for more information on their work and how to join the group.

We encourage and organize family physicians to introduce and advocate for policy resolutions at state and national academies of family physicians that support access to comprehensive reproductive health. These resolutions can also be modified and used for other primary care professional organizations. We thank RHEDI (Reproductive Health EDucation In Family Medicine) and TEACH (Training in Early Abortion for Comprehensive Healthcare) for drafting these resolutions.

Read the AAFP Primer to understand the state and national structure of the AAFP and how to move resolutions through the system. RHEDI has created the guide Five Steps to a Resolution that outlines how to craft resolutions. View a complete list of reproductive health policies here. 

 

Family medicine professional organizations

• Family Medicine Education Consortium (FMEC)
• Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM)
  • STFM Abortion Training and Access Group

 

Reproductive health and other professional organizations

• American Medical Association (AMA)
• American Public Health Association (APHA)
• Association of Reproductive Health Professionals (ARHP)
• Medical Students for Choice
• Nursing Students for Choice
• Physicians for Reproductive Health

 

Join the Reproductive Health Access Network

The Reproductive Health Access Network pulls together over 1,400 family physicians and other primary care clinicians from all over the country to work together nationally and in their respective communities to expand access to abortion, contraception, and miscarriage care in the clinical and teaching practices. Join the Network to connect with primary care clinicians working to improve access to reproductive health care.