Virtual Hill Briefing on Achieving Sexual and Reproductive Health Equity (SRHE) for All
By Jamie Hart
In collaboration with Senator Patty Murray and the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus, CECA conducted a briefing for the Senate and House of Representatives on December 8th that included:
Opening remarks by Senator Patty Murray (via pre-recorded welcome) from Washington State, who serves as Chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) and has been a long-time champion of sexual and reproductive health.
Acknowledgement of Congress’s important work to support Sexual and Reproductive Wellbeing (SRHW), such as the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 that gives states a new option to extend Medicaid postpartum coverage to 12 months via a state plan amendment (SPA).
Remarks from Dr. Joia Crear-Perry, the founder and president of the National Birth Equity Collaborative (NBEC) and a member of CECA’s Advisory Board, about why this work is so important, including the impact of historical and contemporary racism and other oppressions on reproductive coercion and bodily autonomy.
Remarks from Dr. Jamie Hart, CECA Executive Director, to highlight how we can create a new paradigm for SRHW and SRHE, guided in part by CECA’s Recommendations for Achieving Universal, Equitable Access to Quality Contraception and Priority Roadmap for Policy-Ready Contraceptive Research.
Interactive participant Q&A and discussion on how to advance SRHW and SRHE, including reforms to funding and payment strategies and implementation of performance measures across federal systems.
Why is Achieving SRHW and SRHE so Important?
CECA focuses on the concepts of SRHW and SRHE throughout our work. These frameworks, applied in tandem, are intended to improve sexual and reproductive health outcomes in the United States, which continue to lag behind other nations, and reduce persistent inequities.
These inequities are the legacy of slavery and racial injustice and the perpetuation of racism in health care, which have deprived people of color of the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy. Our collective societal failure to address racial and other inequities in health care access have had negative ramifications for the overall quality of care and patient outcomes.
While the federal government has played a role in advancing policy and providing access to critical health services, it has also perpetuated reproductive coercion as a tool of racial and gender oppression. Many supportive structures and activities have stalled, erased, or remain fragmented, due to long historical precedent, exacerbated by the previous presidential administration. Within this context, many states also continue to attack sexual and reproductive health.
We must create a new paradigm of sexual and reproductive health, wellbeing, and equity, focused on:
Improving health outcomes and reducing inequities, including maternal mortality.
Increasing bodily autonomy for all people, including those whose autonomy has historically been restricted, particularly Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC).
Creating supportive policies that address the social, structural, and environmental determinants of health through policy and advocacy.
Reshaping the national conversation to define wellbeing holistically and not by the absence of disease and distress, but by the presence of sexual and reproductive fulfillment, pleasure, healing, and joy.
What Can Congress Do?
CECA called on Congress to continue playing a unique and critical role in advancing SRHW and SRHE by:
Ensuring respect for human rights – by passing legislation like the Women’s Health Protection Act that establishes a statutory right for health care professionals to provide abortion care and the right for their patients to receive care.
Supporting access to health services and social supports – by robustly funding programs like Title X, the Health Center Program, and Medicaid and passing legislation like the Build Back Better Act to provide universal and free preschool and reduce spending on childcare.
Mitigating barriers and expanding access – by passing legislation like the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act that builds on existing legislation to comprehensively address every dimension of the maternal health crisis in America and the Access to Birth Control Act to guarantee patients' timely access to birth control at the pharmacy.
Leading a federal strategy for promoting SRHW through a human rights, gender, and equity lens – by aligning Congress’ related legislation and the Administrations activities, and determining, more equitably, who decides on policies, how resources are distributed and aligned, and how institutions are held accountable.