Help Us Protect Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health Care Today!
Mar 14
International Women’s Day was first observed in 1911 as the industrial revolution heightened and women were being more vocal about the oppression and inequalities that they were facing in society. Observed on March 8th every year, it took 70 years before Congress authorized President Carter to recognize the entire week of March 8th as “Women’s…
Mar 03
RHAP’s first #WomensHistoryMonth feature goes into detail about the 1875 Page Act- Exclusion of Chinese Women immigrants into the U.S. The Gold Rush of 1848 brought upon an influx of different groups of immigrants to the state of California, including migrants from China. Shortly following, growing xenophobia against this population rose and the United States…
Feb 24
On the final Friday of Black History Month, RHAP is taking the time to highlight black women’s health pioneer and lifelong activist Byllye Avery. Avery’s path first led her to a career in education, where she taught children with special needs in Jacksonville, Florida while pursuing a Master’s in Education. After being diagnosed with an…
Feb 17
On our third Friday, RHAP’s #BlackHistoryMonthFeature focuses on the radical, lesbian, black feminist organization Combahee River Collective. The group, founded by sisters Barbara and Beverly Smith and Demita Frazier in 1974 was named after the historic raid on the Combahee River, where Harriet Tubman led a campaign in the rescue of over 700 slaves in…
Feb 10
RHAP’s second #BlackHistoryMonthFeature is Dr. Percy Julian, a revolutionary organic chemist who set the tone for the future of contraception and family planning. Dr. Julian was born in Montgomery, Alabama in 1899. With the rural south prohibiting African American students from attending high school due to Jim Crow laws, Julian went to DePauw University with…
Feb 03
RHAP’s first #BlackHistoryMonthFeature is Dorothy Roberts; a law professor, essayist, and social justice scholar focusing on the intersections of race, gender, socio-economic conditions and the law. Her work primarily focuses on African Americans, women, and children through the lens of public policy, bioethics and health. In 1997, Roberts’ groundbreaking book “Killing the Black Body: Race,…
Jan 24
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…
Jan 10
Many of the clinicians the Reproductive Health Access Project (RHAP) often works with face barriers to providing comprehensive reproductive health care due to religious discrimination from institutions, co-workers, administrators, and lawmakers. This is why RHAP is proud to be a part of the Coalition on Liberty & Justice (CLJ), an alliance of faith-based and secular…
Nov 07
Laura Riker, RHAP Program Manager Naomi (RHAP’s Operations Associate) and I were able to attend the New Leadership Network Initiative (NLNI), a project of CLPP, a reproductive-justice focused organization. Reproductive justice holds that everyone should have the social, political, and economic power and resources to make their own decisions about their gender, bodies, and sexuality…
Jul 22
Dr. Maggie Carpenter attended medical school at SUNY-Downstate Medical School and it was there that she became aware of family medicine. Dr. Carpenter says “I knew I wanted to do women’s health but I really liked the idea of being able to serve all my patients needs and the needs of their families. Making sure…