ACOG Advocates for Veterans' Access to Basic Reproductive Health Care

This week ACOG submitted testimony  to the House Committee on Veterans Affairs to inform its hearing titled “Veterans’ Access to Reproductive Health.” ACOG’s testimony was cited  during the hearing by Rep. Amata C. Radewagen (R-AS), who highlighted the paucity of data that exists on maternal health outcomes among veterans. In its testimony, ACOG urged Congress to support policies that:

• Invest in research specific to women veterans, including on maternal health outcomes and the impacts of military status on reproductive health
• Lift onerous and harmful restrictions on abortion access for veterans
• Improve access to contraception among veterans
• Eliminate barriers to infertility treatments for veterans and their partners

Additionally, this week, ACOG CEO, Maureen Phipps, MD, MPH, FACOG, spoke to the Chair of the GOP Doctors Caucus, Congressman Phil Roe, MD (R-TN). She discussed the needs of obstetrician-gynecologists and their patients that should be addressed in forthcoming COVID-19 legislation, including:

• Providing additional direct financial support for physicians
• Enacting bipartisan maternal mortality legislation
• Enacting professional liability protections for physicians practicing medicine during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Funding for research at National Institutes of Health on COVID-19 and pregnancy

Read more about ACOG’s broad array of legislative priorities. Want to join the conversation? Email your Members of Congress today using ACOG’s advocacy tool  and tell them to pass additional COVID-19 response legislation that prioritizes you, your practice, and your patients.