Advocacy Updates

July 11, 2017: SMFM joins Research!America and other national healthcare organizations to thank House and Senate leadership for their efforts to secure an omnibus spending bill in fiscal year 2017 and to urge them to negotiate another bipartisan budget agreement that raises the non-defense and defense spending caps established under the 2011 Budget Control Act.

July 11, 2017: SMFM wrote to a group of Members of Congress, thanking them for their support for a bicameral, bipartisan agreement to stop sequestration and raise the spending caps for fiscal year 2018. 

June 28, 2017: SMFM signs on to letters to the House and Senate champions of the Family First Prevention Services Act (H.R. 253/ S. 1268). This legislation would provide states flexibility and resources to address the effects of parental substance use disorders (SUDs) on children's health and well-being.

June 20, 2017: SMFM and members of the Steering Committee of the Coalition to Advance Maternal Therapeutics wrote to Secretary Price to ask that he move quickly and approve a slate of members for the Task Force on Research Specific to Pregnant Women and Lactating Women.

June 14, 2017: SMFM sends a letter to all U.S. Senators in opposition to the American Health Care Act and urges the Senate to work toward a plan that will strengthen key provisions related to maternity care.

June 14, 2017: SMFM partners with the American Public Health Association, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and other national organizations to support efforts to reform the over-the-counter (OTC) drug monograph system. 

May 22, 2017: SMFM signs on to letters organized by the Friends of NCHS to House and Senate Appropriators, requesting $170 million for the National Center for Health Statistics in FY 2018.

May 17, 2017: SMFM partners with the AAP, March of Dimes, and other national organizations in support of efforts to reform the FDA's OTC drug regulations.

May 17, 2017: SMFM signs on to a letter organized by the Friends of NCBDDD to House and Senate Appropriators, requesting $152.61 million for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities in the FY 2018.

May 8, 2017: SMFM signs on to a letter to Senate Appropriators urging them to allocate $5 million for the Screening and Treatment for Maternal Mental Depression Program at HRSA, as authorized by the 21st Century Cures Act.

May 3, 2017: SMFM thanks Sen. Murray for introducing the Save Women's Preventive Care Act.

April 28, 2017: SMFM opposes the global gag rule, which blocks aid to foreign organizations who use their own non-U.S. funds to provide information, referrals, or services for legal abortion or to advocate for access to abortion services in their own country.

March 27, 2017: SMFM works in coalition to advocate for increased federal funding to combat the Zika virus.

March 21, 2017: SMFM writes to Congressional leaders regarding ACA replacement legislation.

March 9, 2017: SMFM endorses the bi-partisan Preventing Maternal Deaths Act.

March 8, 2017: SMFM issues a statement on the House Republican alternative to the Affordable Care Act.

March 3, 2017: SMFM President, Dr. Alfred Abuhamad, shares SMFM's position on access to and coverage for preconception, prenatal, labor, delivery, and postpartum care in a piece published in the The Hill.

February 7, 2017: SMFM signs onto a letter to President Trump in support of the safety of vaccines. 

February 1, 2017: SMFM joins more than 50 organizations expressing concern with the executive order signed by President Trump restricting the entrance of certain foreign nationals and refugees into the U.S. The letter outlined concerns related specifically to the order's effect on patient care, health education, and medical research. 

January 13, 2017:  SMFM sent a letter to Members of Congress urging them to to ensure continued and improved access to maternity care services, providers and treatments in any health policy package that may replace the Affordable Care Act.  

January 4, 2017: SMFM urges the Secretary of Health and Human Services to begin implementation of the Task Force on Research Specific to Pregnant Women and Lactating Women as soon as possible, and to include a MFM on the Task Force.

December 7, 2016: SMFM releases a joint statement of support for the passage of the 21st Century Cures Act, a bill that creates a task force housed within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that will advance research and inform sharing on medications in pregnancy and breastfeeding.