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NIRH’s Recent Successes:
Massachusetts legislative victories
One of our core strategies has been to pass laws in every state possible to secure reproductive freedom. In Massachusetts, we worked alongside partners for many years to reform the Commonwealth’s surprisingly restrictive reproductive health laws, securing reproductive freedom in state law, removes barriers to abortion and expands access to this care. In 2017, we worked together to pass the ACCESS (Advancing Contraceptive Coverage and Economic Security in our State) bill, which put in place state-level protections for contraceptive access without a copay. In 2018, we passed the NASTY Woman Act, repealing the commonwealth’s centuries-old criminal abortion law. Armed with [...]
Polling on Abortion Access in Arizona and Pennsylvania
NIRH Action Fund commissioned polling in 2020 in Arizona and Pennsylvania that found widespread support for abortion access in these key battleground states. This polling builds on NIRH’s national and state-based public opinion and message research conducted since 2016. The Arizona and Pennsylvania surveys yield strikingly similar results, and indicate that voters in these states are eager for elected officials to advance a bold vision for reproductive freedom. Read the full poll memo here.
Establishment of Maternal Mortality Review Boards to Address Racial Disparities in New York
On August 1, 2019, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill creating the New York State and New York City Maternal Mortality Review Boards and a Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Advisory Council. Comprised of diverse groups of clinical experts, the review boards and the council will undertake a comprehensive review of every maternal death in New York State and develop recommendations and best practices to lower the maternal mortality rate. This legislation confronts a public health crisis – New York’s maternal death rate rose from 13.2 per 100,000 live births in 2006 to 25 per 100,000 in 2015, and Black women [...]
Combating Misinformation, Advancing Proactive Policies in Illinois & Vermont
In 2019 Illinois and Vermont passed bold legislation that protects and enshrines the right to reproductive health care. NIRH launched digital campaigns in Illinois and Vermont to celebrate this groundbreaking legislation and to guard against potential backlash by promoting accurate information about the laws.
Clearer Standards for Health Insurer ID Cards
In 2017, NIRH successfully fought for no-copay coverage of abortion and contraception for all state-regulated insurance plans in New York. However, many New Yorkers are covered by employer-provided self-funded plans which are governed by federal law and do not have to comply with state-level requirements. NIRH then urged the state to find a creative solution that would ensure that all New Yorkers would be able to understand if their health insurance plan must comply with New York state requirements which guarantees coverage for abortion and contraception. In July of 2019, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a new regulation for health insurer [...]
Fund Abortion NYC
New York City made history for abortion access as the first city in the nation to directly fund abortion care! NIRH Action Fund and our partners in the #FundAbortionNYC Coalition worked with the New York City Council to ensure that financial barriers don't interfere with anyone's ability to control when and whether to become a parent.
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.
Combating Misinformation, Advancing Proactive Policies
Following the successful passage of the Reproductive Health Act, opponents of abortion access began spreading lies and misinformation about the law in an effort to push their anti-abortion agenda and halt similar progress in other states. In response to the web of misinformation spun by those who would like to see abortion criminalized, NIRH launched an aggressive ad campaign in Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, and Washington, DC to set the record straight on the RHA and other proactive legislation.
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.
Passage of the CCCA
After 5 years of NIRH’s advocacy, public education efforts and deep work with legislators, the Comprehensive Contraceptive Coverage Act (CCCA) became law in 2019. The CCCA ensures that all New Yorkers have access to the contraception that is right for them at no cost. Following years of grassroots organizing, the 2018 election delivered a pro-choice majority in the New York State Senate, and a mandate for passing the CCCA. The CCCA, which was signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo in early 2019, guarantees insurance coverage without a co-pay, allows individuals to obtain up to a year’s worth of contraception [...]
