The Advocacy Committee continues its hard work in the setting of our current sociopolitical climate and all the things that continue to affect reproductive healthcare. This is particularly important for sexuality and gender minority adolescents and young adults. Below is a summary of the committee’s most recent accomplishments and activities:

• On behalf of NASPAG, the Advocacy Committee signed onto a letter to US Vice President in support of US hosting the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD+30) in honor of its 30th anniversary. The ICPD Conference Coalition has put together a set of recommendations for the U.S. government to define their robust engagement in the ICPD process. One of these recommendations asks the U.S. government to convene a high-level commemorative event next summer, headlined by Vice President Harris, that celebrates and affirms U.S. commitment to delivering sexual and reproductive health and rights for all through its actions on programs, policy, and funding.

• NASPAG developed a statement regarding the affordability and equity of Opill. This will be available on our website. This statement is to emphasize that we believe in a cost-effective strategy for enhancing access to birth control, particularly for adolescents, to ensure that financial constraints do not pose a barrier to the realization of its potential benefits. We previously released a statement supporting the availability of oral progestin-only contraceptive pills to adolescents.

• The Advocacy Committee has also been excited to host TWO webinars for NASPAG and non NASPAG members as part of our advocacy series entitled “An Evening of Advocacy.” In September we were lucky to have NASPAG members Drs Megan Harrison and Kate Stambough present “Becoming an Advocacy in your Space” and most recently we were lucky to have Dr Dawn Bingham present “Stepping up to Politics” on Dec 11th to our organization. Be on the look out for additional webinars in this exciting series and join us as we continue to advocate for issues critical to our field.