Advocacy Activities & Updates

We prioritize health equity and support policy proposals that are aimed at eliminating health care disparities for high-risk pregnant women. View our complete advocacy agenda (2021-2022) in greater detail. Letters, testimony, and other correspondence with policymakers that support our commitment to health equity can be found below. Questions? Contact Rebecca Abbott.

• September 3, 2021: SMFM joined 55 organizations in sending a letter to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget to request substantial federal funding for the Title X Family Planning Program in the FY23 Presidential Budget.

• June 23, 2021: SMFM joined 68 organizations for the Family Planning Coalition’s FY22 Senate Testimony to urge Senate appropriators to increase funding for the Title X Family Planning Program.
  

• June 23, 2021: SMFM joined nearly 30 partner organizations in sending a letter to Congressional appropriators requesting robust funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) in FY 2022.

• June 21, 2021: SMFM joined nearly 100 partner organizations in a statement in support of life-saving research using human fetal tissue.

• June 21, 2021: SMFM submitted testimony urging Congress to prioritize funding for key maternal health programs in the FY 2022 federal appropriations process.

• June 14, 2021:  SMFM joined 19 other physician groups in endorsing the Women’s Health Protection Act in advance of a legislative hearing on the bill in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The WHPA would establish a statutory right for health care providers to provide, and their patients to receive, abortion care free from medically unnecessary restrictions, limitations, and bans.

• May 27, 2021: SMFM joined 40 national organizations to write to House and Senate appropriators to request $180 million for the NIH Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program.

• May 19, 2021: SMFM joined the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research to write to House and Senate leadership in support of increased investments in research infrastructure.

• May 17, 2021: SMFM wrote to HHS in support of the proposed Title X rule which would  revoke the Trump Administration’s 2019 changes to the program (gag rule), reinstate the 2000 regulations, and modernize some elements of the program.  

• May 7, 2021: SMFM wrote to the FDA to thank them for lifting the in-person dispensing requirements for Mifepristone during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• May 7, 2021: SMFM joined leading maternal and mental health organizations in support of the Moms Matter Act (H.R. 909/S.484)

• April 12, 2021: In a letter to SMFM and ACOG, the FDA lifted the in-person dispending requirements for Mifepristone for the remainder of the COVID-19 public health emergency. 

• April 26, 2021: SMFM joined national and state leaders in public health to write to House and Senate Appropriators requesting funding for the CDC’s Social Determinants of Health Program in FY222.

• April 14, 2021: SMFM asks to CMS issue guidance for states so that more extend Medicaid from 60 days to a full year postpartum. 

• March 18, 2021: SMFM signed on to a letter in support of the Equal Access to Contraception for Veterans Act. This bill would ensure that veterans have access to no-copay contraception much like their civilian counterparts.

• March 11, 2021: SMFM signed on to a letter requesting that appropriators provide increased funding for HRSA's Maternal Mental Health Hotline and the Screening and Treatment of Maternal Depression and Related Behavioral Disorders Program in FY 2022.

• March 8, 2021: SMFM signed on to a letter to House and Senate Appropriators recommending $9.2 billion for for Health Resources and Services Administration programs in the FY 2022 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations bill.

• March 1, 2021: SMFM signed on to a letter to House and Senate Appropriators urging them to provide at least $10 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s programs in the FY 2022 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations bill.

• March 1, 2021: SMFM signed on to a letter to President Biden and Vice President Harris, urging that they lift the in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• February 25, 2021: SMFM sent a letter to CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice (ACIP) supporting pregnant and lactating people's access to the Janssen vaccine.

• February 24, 2021: SMFM wrote a letter to the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) encouraging them to include pregnant and lactating people in the emergency use authorization for the Janssen vaccine.

• February 22, 2021: SMFM joined nearly 120 partner organizations in writing to leadership of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees requesting increased investment in the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in fiscal year 2022.

• January 13, 2021: SMFM sends a letter to President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Harris outlining recommendations to improve maternal health for the incoming administration.

• January 7, 2021: SMFM joined 100 organizations in sending a letter to President-Elect Joe Biden urging him to rescind harmful restrictions on the use of human fetal tissue in research imposed in 2019.