In 2016, with all our staff and board, the Reproductive Health Access Project thought deeply about two inter-related topics:  1) reproductive justice and 2) policy and advocacy.

We agreed that while our organization is dedicated to issues of reproductive health, the principles of reproductive justice underlie our mission, inform our work, and shape our organizational priorities and strategy.  We also realized that we have been doing a lot more policy and advocacy work than we originally thought and committed to stepping up our involvement in policy and advocacy activities that would further our mission of ensuring everyone has access to reproductive health care.

The lead up to the 2016 election was an opportunity for our movement to articulate a positive, pro-active, expansive reproductive health, rights, justice agenda. With the help of board member Vicki Breitbart, RHAP was an active member of a broad coalition of organizations that developed this agenda for the incoming administration.  We participated in several sub-committees, attended in-person planning/coordinating committees in Washington, DC, and helped determine the coalition’s final set of priorities. We came away from the process feeling that RHAP’s contribution was unique and valuable.  We also left inspired and emboldened at the possibility the future could hold.

After the election, the coalition came together again, to reaffirm our commitment to our original agenda and to plan our strategy to accomplish out agenda.  You can read our collective statement here.  In the coming days, months, and years, RHAP’s goal is to remain vigilant, stay connected, and take action on critical issues where we can make a difference.

We promise to keep you engaged and share opportunities for action with you.  Standing together we can make a difference.