August 2019

 

The Access Circle

One of our wonderful monthly donors, Maureen Falencki, graciously decided to share her personal story with our community because she feels that there is a huge need for access to reproductive health through education. Stories like hers, along with those of our community of monthly supporters, have inspired us to create a monthly giving program to help sustain our programs, remain a strong force in the reproductive health care community, and advocate for access to reproductive health care for everyone.

The Access Circle is a community of dedicated supporters who give monthly to support the work of the Reproductive Health Access Project (RHAP). Every day, RHAP works hard to educate and train primary care clinicians to provide access to comprehensive reproductive health care to everyone, everywhere. But there’s only one reason we are able to continue this critical work every day. It’s YOU.

You can make your support go further by joining the Access Circle Community. Your monthly support is valuable to our work and ensures that reproductive health care is more accessible. What is exciting about monthly donations is that you are making a difference month after month and increasing access, reducing stigma, and mainstreaming abortion care for the long haul.

Right now, the need is great. The Trump administration recently awarded nearly $1.5 million to three anti-abortion organizations, including anti-abortion clinic networks that have a history of misrepresenting sexual health information. The number of anti-abortion clinics is growing.  We cannot let them continue to promote false and inaccurate statements about abortion and contraception.

The current administration’s policies are destroying access to quality reproductive health care.   We cannot and will not let this happen. As RHAP continues, your monthly gift can make a huge difference, helping us train and support even more clinicians across the United States.

Your monthly support will help:

• Mainstream abortion, contraception, and early pregnancy loss care every year by helping RHAP educate more clinicians on these topics.
• Increase access to reproductive health care every year by helping RHAP train more clinicians.
• Empower more patients to be in control of their reproductive health every year by helping RHAP develop more patient education materials.

Will you help us reach our goal of 25 new monthly donors to mainstream, empower, and increase access to reproductive health care? Join us by September 30^th and your monthly gift will be matched at a time when it’s so urgently needed! You will also receive RHAP’s new swag!!

We hope you can join us in becoming a part of the Access Circle Community. If you have any questions about the campaign or would like to join, please email Nushin Bhimani, our Development Officer, at nushin@reproductiveaccess.org.

 

Organize, Mobilize, and Magnify: Netroots Nation 2019

In July, RHAP’s National Organizer, Laura Riker, and Organizer, Hailey Broughton-Jones, headed to Philadelphia for Netroots Nation 2019.  Netroots Nation is one of the largest conventions dedicated to activism and social justice for the progressive movement. We were excited to dive into training sessions and focus on building our campaign and organizing skills. The conference is also well known for its keynote panels. This year, they featured Democratic presidential candidates and prominent legislators (like members of The Squad!) We were able to hear from Senator Elizabeth Warren, Representative Ilhan Omar, and Representative Ayanna Pressley, former HUD Secretary Julián Castro, among other progressive political leaders.

But beyond glossy pamphlets and big-name keynotes, we saw firsthand the power of grassroots organizing across social justice movements. Local activists in Philly, building upon the protests and mobilizing efforts of activists in New Orleans (where Netroots Nation 2018 was hosted), demanded a seat at the table. Philadelphia-based organizers pushed Netroots Nations to include more panels featuring local activists and highlighting the work of queer, black, brown, and indigenous people. It was energizing learning about various organizing tactics during workshops and seeing these tactics implemented in real-time throughout the conference. 

There were hundreds of panels, lectures, and training sessions. This included how to magnify campaigns efforts across digital platforms and organizing tools imperative to sustaining national coalitions, skills we will use as we grow and sustain the Reproductive Health Access Network. We thought critically about how to maintain engagement, reach new audiences through social media, and support active members to magnify mobilization efforts. We learned the importance of offering our supporters a defined “ladder” of actions that require different levels of commitment, in order to build our activist base and allow people to get involved at whatever level they can- whether that be signing a petition, donating, or hosting a meeting or house party. We envisioned growing our professional development opportunities for our Network Leaders. We brainstormed mini-campaigns to serve as an advertising platform for our Network and the incredible work our members do on a daily basis. We left Philly inspired and energized. We look forward to implementing key take-aways from the conference – and we look forward to Netroots Nation 2020!

 

Accepting Applications for 2020 Fellows

Our Reproductive Health Care and Advocacy Fellowship is now accepting applications for 2020-2021 fellows. This year-long fellowship is an intensive clinical training program that develops family medicine leaders who provide, teach, and advocate for comprehensive reproductive health care. We are recruiting for four positions: two in New York City, one in Boston, and one in Washington State.

Fellows will be “trainers in training,” learning to perform reproductive health procedures and how to teach these procedures to others. Fellows will develop leadership skills by giving presentations during the residency curriculum sessions, as well as at academic family medicine meetings and conferences. With guidance from the Reproductive Health Access Project, Fellows will participate in advocacy projects that promote access to reproductive health care in family medicine. In collaboration with residents and faculty, Fellows will work on research projects with the goal of preparing presentations for academic meetings and publications for family medicine journals.

Applicants must be board-certified or board-eligible family physicians who will have completed residency training in the United States by August 1, 2020. Recent graduates and mid-career physicians are eligible. Candidates need not be fully trained in reproductive health procedures.

Applications for the Fellowship can only be submitted electronically and are accepted on a rolling basis until December 1, 2019. To apply, please email the following materials to fellowship@reproductiveaccess.org: Fellowship Application Form, Personal Statement with your reason for interest and career goals, curriculum vitae, three letters of reference (must be emailed directly by the writer and either be on electronic letterhead with an electronic signature or a scanned pdf of the letter on letterhead with a signature).

You can learn more about the application process on our website.

 

Focus on a Cluster: Montana

Last month, the Reproductive Health Access Network’s newest Cluster in Montana met for the first time. Thanks to the leadership of longtime RHAP member and reproductive health champion, Dr. Joey Banks, the Montana Cluster has gotten off the ground and is moving full speed ahead.

The first meeting brought together 12 clinical advocates and activists from across the state. Like many of our geographically larger Cluster states, Montana has the added barrier of physical distance between members. Thanks to video technology like zoom, clinicians are able to more easily participate in Cluster meetings. Building a supportive community across the state is especially important in areas that already experience more barriers to abortion provision and access. RHAP also sets up secure email lists that help Network members communicate digitally more easily. 

The meeting started off with everyone sharing a thought and/or feeling that they have about the state of reproductive health care in this country – for many clinicians, the Clusters are a safe space where they can talk to their peers about doing this work in an environment that is supportive and understanding. Many of our Network members are often one of the few (if not only) providers of reproductive health care in their areas, this is especially true for clinicians working in rural communities. The group decided to continue meeting as a Cluster and laid out some goals for the upcoming year, which include offering clinical trainings and engaging in advocacy within the Montana Academy of Family Physicians. 

The Cluster also received an update on the 2018 case filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights and the ACLU of Montana that challenges a Montana law that prohibits well-trained and competent non-physician clinicians from providing abortion care. Helen Weems, a certified nurse practitioner and Cluster member, is one of two plaintiffs in this case. Last year, a judge temporarily blocked the law, allowing trained NPs to offer abortion services; however, the case is still open and the Cluster is ready to advocate in support of it. About 30-35% of RHAP’s Network is made up of non-physician clinicians, and it is critical that we all work together to support each other in ensuring that people can access care. 

We are grateful to Dr. Banks and the leaders in Montana for boldly speaking out in support of abortion care, especially in an increasingly hostile environment for reproductive health. RHAP cannot do this work without our Network leaders and members, and we’re looking forward to seeing the Montana Cluster grow and thrive!

If you are a clinician and would like to be connected with the Network and your local Cluster, please email RHAP National Organizer, Laura Riker, at laura@reproductiveaccess.org.

 

We’re Hiring

We’re growing! The Reproductive Health Access Project (RHAP) is seeking a full-time Organizing Associate and a part-time Development Intern.

The Organizing Associate will play a key role in working to build, expand, and support the Reproductive Health Access Network, a national community of primary care clinician activists. Through our national organizing and mobilizing, we are building a movement to change the way reproductive health care is provided and we are looking for a highly motivated, organized, and detail-oriented individual to join us.

The Development Intern will play a key role in ensuring that RHAP meets its short and long-term fundraising goals. RHAP expects to continue its growth in the coming years and the Development Intern will be an integral part of sustaining this growth.

You can learn more about each of these positions on our website. Please share the positions with someone if you think they would be a good fit for one of these exciting new roles.