The past few months have been an exciting time for the Reproductive Health Access Network, RHAP’s community of pro-choice primary care clinicians from across the country who work locally and nationally to expand access to comprehensive reproductive health care in their clinics and teaching practices. Since the election, at least 200 more pro-choice clinicians have joined, bringing our total membership to over 1,200 people across 44 states and Washington, D.C.. Even more exciting has been the explosive growth of our Network chapters, or Clusters. In addition to our longstanding Clusters in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Baltimore, and Vermont, we now have ten new Clusters who have met or are meeting in the coming months!

In December, clinicians in the Bay Area came together for the first meeting of the Northern California Cluster. Over 20 community providers attended the gathering, which consisted of an Advocacy 101 training given by our partners at Physicians for Reproductive Health. There was a lot of support for engaging in more legislative advocacy, and lending their voices as providers. In Colorado, another group of clinicians met in Denver, where they discussed their priorities moving forward. Next steps include running through some advocacy 101 trainings, becoming connected to the local NARAL, and building a pro-choice presence at the Colorado Academy of Family Physicians. Brand new Clusters are also meeting in the next few months in Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, and Washington states. While this work is difficult and we have a lot of battles ahead of us, we’ve been taking inspiration and comfort from the incredible momentum that we’ve seen since the election. As the Network grows, so does our collective power to affect social change.

If you would like to join the Network, please sign up here. If you are a provider living in an area where we have a Cluster and would like to be connected, please email Laura Riker, Program Manager, at laura@reproductiveaccess.org.