Washington, DC – January 21, 2022 – The Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) recognizes the ongoing threat to full reproductive rights and justice for all persons.
As the Supreme Court deliberates over Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, SOPHE acknowledges that reproductive rights at the federal level and in individual states are in a precarious position.
Since we recognize that the right to reproductive health is an equity issue, SOPHE actively advocates for full reproductive rights of all persons, including all women, LGBTQ persons and low-income persons.
SOPHE supports the funding of evidence-based health education programs that promote inclusive and gender expansive reproductive/sexual health. These commitments are consistent with SOPHE’s mission and our dedication to health equity.
It is also important to assert that reproductive health comprises a wide range of health-related matters, including access to lifesaving screenings such as cancer and STD/STI tests.
SOPHE recognizes the inequity of anti-choice and anti-reproductive health legislation and the potential impacts it could have on endangering the lives of individuals who need access to abortion care. Further, we are concerned that restrictive anti-choice laws would be applied inequitably and put at risk the rightful freedom of choice for all people, with even more significant impact on lower income persons and persons of color.
We call on state and federal policymakers to recognize the importance of codifying reproductive rights protections, and to ensure that reproductive rights are accessible to everyone regardless of economic status, race and ethnicity, and gender.
We also call on health educators to embrace their unique role in highlighting the range of choices that individuals can make when exercising their reproductive health.
SOPHE will continue to advocate for the reproductive rights of all persons during this uncertain time.
