Proactive Policy Archives - National Institute for Reproductive Health

Abortion Without Punishment Campaigns

With the implications of a gutted Roe, and fewer abortion clinics open and accessible, we now face the perfect storm for the criminalization of women and medical professionals for seeking or providing abortions. Archaic laws criminalizing abortion could become enforceable and states could introduce new legislation to ban abortion outright, as they have in Ohio. In 2018 and 2019, NIRH supported statewide campaigns in Ohio, New York, and Michigan to decriminalize people seeking abortions and providers who offer abortion care.

March 12, 2019Decriminalizing Self-Managed Abortion, Impact, Public Education|

Passing & Protecting New York’s Reproductive Health Act

For more than 10 years, NIRH and the NIRH Action Fund led the advocacy campaign to educate the public, rally New Yorkers, and convince elected officials to update New York’s laws by passing the Reproductive Health Act.

March 8, 2019Decriminalizing Self-Managed Abortion, Impact, Proactive Policy on Abortion Access, Public Education|

Massachusetts Passes State Decriminalization Bill Safeguarding Abortion Access

On July 18, 2018, the Massachusetts legislature passed long-overdue proactive legislation to decriminalize abortion. This win is significant because it overturns archaic statutes that have been used to prosecute women who self-manage their own abortions. With this win, Massachusetts pushed back against a hostile anti-choice federal landscape, and laid the groundwork to push even further to […]

July 18, 2018Decriminalizing Self-Managed Abortion, Impact, Proactive Policy, Proactive Policy on Abortion Access|

Passing Resolution Supporting Insurance Coverage for Abortion Care in Durham County, NC

On April 9, 2018, the Durham County Board of Commissioners unanimously passed a resolution calling for an end to the Hyde Amendment and calling upon President Trump and North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper to support measures to ensure and protect the rights of women, transgender, and gender-nonconforming individuals everywhere to have unhindered access to safe […]

April 9, 2018Impact, Insurance Coverage for Abortion, Proactive Policy|

NIRH White Paper on Self-Managed Abortion – “When Self-Abortion is a Crime: An Analysis of Massachusetts Law”

NIRH’s white paper, “When Self-Abortion is a Crime: Laws that Put Women at Risk: An Analysis of Massachusetts Law,” raises awareness about the harms of criminal bans on self-abortion, with a particular focus on Massachusetts, which is one of a handful of states with criminal laws on the books that explicitly make self-abortion illegal.

April 6, 2018Decriminalizing Self-Managed Abortion, Impact, Publications & Reports|

Stopping Fake Clinics’ Deceptive Practices in Hartford, CT

In 2017, NIRH supported a partnership between NARAL Pro-Choice Connecticut and Hartford GYN Center, a long standing health care provider in the Hartford community, to educate and mobilize a grassroots base about the harms caused by so-called crisis pregnancy centers or fake women’s health centers in their community. This was based in part on a […]

December 23, 2017Impact, Proactive Policy on Abortion Access|

Increasing Access to Immediate Postpartum LARC in New Mexico, Tennessee, & Utah

NIRH is committed to expanding access to underutilized forms of contraception, including IUDs and implants. Though offering immediate postpartum LARC to patients who want this method is considered a best practice, barriers including policy, reimbursement, and lack of education for both providers and patients, and the challenges of implementing this service, have made it so […]

December 18, 2017Access to Contraception, Impact, Proactive Policy|

Engaging Hospitals Across New Mexico and Utah in the Implementation of Immediate Postpartum LARC

Implementation is an integral part of expanding access to contraceptive coverage after successful advocacy for a policy change. Too often, a new policy is passed but its enactment is limited due to the difficulty that comes with vital work like ensuring that systems are created or updated and key stakeholders and informed and educated. As […]

December 18, 2017Access to Contraception, Impact, Proactive Policy|

Passing a Resolution to Support Abortion Coverage in Public Insurance Programs in Pittsburgh, PA

On November 20, 2017, the Pittsburgh City Council voted to pass a Will of Council calling for the passage of the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage (EACH Woman) Act, a federal bill that would reinstate abortion coverage in public insurance programs, and for the repeal of Pennsylvania’s ban on abortion coverage in private insurance plans […]

November 20, 2017Insurance Coverage for Abortion|

Expanding Access to Abortion in Illinois with HB40

The National Institute for Reproductive Health, in partnership with All* Above All, has supported advocacy in Chicago and the state of Illinois to expand public coverage of abortion since 2013 with our partners the ACLU of Illinois (ACLU of IL) and the Chicago Abortion Fund (CAF). In 2017, NIRH supported the ACLU of IL as they […]

September 28, 2017Insurance Coverage for Abortion|