Creating Just and Equitable Access to Reproductive Health Care
NIRH fights for equitable access to reproductive health care. Our strategy is to go on the offensive to pass laws that safeguard reproductive freedom, working at the state and local level where we can have the greatest and most immediate impact on people’s lives.
In 2022, NIRH is supporting advocacy and movement-building campaigns across 20 states, partnering with more than 25 organizations on the frontlines of the fight for reproductive freedom in cities and states across the country.
NIRH’s work in 2022 is focused on:
- Expanding equitable access to abortion: We are advocating to expand access to abortion in states and cities that serve as key access points for abortion care.
- Increasing access to contraception: We’re building patient-centered access to the full range of contraceptive options.
- Working to eliminate racial and economic disparities in reproductive health care: We’re working with partners to remove barriers rooted in systemic racism, and improving the health of our communities.
NIRH is the only national organization in the country working with state- and local-based groups through a robust partnership model to advance reproductive health, rights, and justice policy while also building partners’ capacity.
2022 Partners
NIRH’s 2022 partnerships reflect the patchwork of political realities, needs, and opportunities in different communities. We’re working predominately with reproductive justice groups and organizations with a reproductive justice lens to create equitable access to reproductive health care.
- Arizona: Desert Star Family Planning Institute and Empower Alliance for Reproductive Justice
- California: ACCESS REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE
- Illinois: Chicago Abortion Fund
- Maryland: Black Doula Project and Reproductive Justice Inside
- Massachusetts: Reproductive Equity Now Foundation
- Michigan: Michigan Organization for Adolescent Health, Michigan Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Network, and the YWCA Kalamazoo
- Minnesota: Asian American Organizing Project, Our Justice, Pro-Choice Minnesota, and Whole Woman’s Health Alliance
- Mississippi: Converge
- New Jersey: Cherry Hill Women’s Center, National Council of Jewish Women, Essex County, and Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey
- New York: Black Women’s Blueprint and National Institute for Reproductive Health
- Oregon: Northwest Abortion Access Fund and Pro-Choice Oregon
- Pennsylvania: Center for Women’s Health Research and Innovation at the University of Pittsburgh
- Wisconsin: Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness and Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s Health
State-based Proactive Abortion Policy and Culture Shift Project
2022 Targeted Strategies
Following a 50-state landscape analysis, NIRH has identified 20 states where the need is great and NIRH is poised to make a difference working with partners to create equitable access to reproductive health care. Recognizing the patchwork of political realities in various states, NIRH’s strategies are tailored to three sets of states.
Expanding Access: California, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, and Oregon
Expanding equitable access to abortion care in these access states will be even more critical in the years ahead. Even in states where the right to abortion is not at risk, systemic inequities have led to disparities in access for BIPOC, low-income, and rural people. NIRH will work to codify abortion rights wherever possible, remove all restrictions, and pass new policies that make it more affordable and possible for everyone, including out-of-state people, to access abortion care. We will also advance a broader reproductive freedom agenda that expands access to contraception and addresses maternal health disparities and birth justice.
Moving Forward: Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Virginia
In states that serve as critical access point for abortion care, but where the political climate is not as hospitable to nearer-term change, we will work with our partners to move forward proactive policies where possible and continue movement-building to counter efforts to roll back gains – because building sustainable, intersectional coalitions is critical to achieving a broad vision of reproductive equity. We will also take advantage of opportunities to increase access to contraceptive care.
Laying the Groundwork: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Ohio, Texas, and Wisconsin
In states hostile to reproductive freedom, we’re focused on longer-term movement building, while securing gains where we can. We’ll focus on the cities in these states that can adopt innovative local policies to create havens for health equity – from abortion funding to doula care services. We’ll work with partners on the ground to identify the most critical needs – spanning abortion, contraception, safe pregnancy, and birth justice. And we’ll invest in movement building and culture change led by key constituencies, such as BIPOC communities and young people. Our goal is to change policy wherever possible, build the capacity and power of advocates, and help create broad-based movements to make enduring change on the full range of reproductive health care needs.
