AMWA Advocacy

AMWA recognizes that unintended pregnancies are a major public health concern, accounting for approximately 45% of US pregnancies in 2011 (Finer 2016). Approximately 1/3 (29%) of childbearing-aged women and those capable of becoming pregnant in the United States experience difficulties obtaining hormonal contraception (Grindlay 2016).

Barriers include lack of insurance coverage, requirements for a prescription, lack of a primary healthcare provider, and constraints on time or transportation. These barriers put women at risk of unplanned pregnancies which may result in poor maternal or fetal outcomes. In the U.S., 22 states allow pharmacists to prescribe or dispense hormonal contraception (NASPA). Requirements for pharmacy access add barriers and may include consultation with the pharmacist, recording of a normal BP, and sometimes only behind the counter access. Additional barriers include age restrictions, insurance limitations or access, and pharmacists’ objection to dispense. One approach to increase accessibility is to provide over-the-counter access to hormonal contraception (Grindlay 2016). Since 2006, over the counter access to emergency contraception, a similar medication, has been available in the U.S. and many studies have noted its safety and acceptability (Chen 2011).  Over the counter birth control pills are already available over the counter in over 100 countries (Grindlay).

AMWA supports over-the-counter access to progestin-only hormonal contraception in the U.S. without a prescription to improve reproductive care of women and those capable of becoming pregnant.

-Alex Bergeron, Ann Margaret Irvin, Theresa Rohr-Kirchgraber, MD, Jan Werbinski, MD on behalf of the American Medical Women’s Association.

AMWA Supports ACR Resolution on Patient-Physician Relationship

AMWA supports the resolution of the American College of Radiology (ACR) to oppose any government regulation or legislative action that would criminalize physicians and other medical imaging professionals for providing evidence-based medical care within the scope of their training, professional judgment, and nationally recognized professional practice guidelines.

April 2023

AMWA supports expanded Background Checks and an Assault Weapons ban.

The American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) recognizes that gun violence is a public health crisis in the United States. AMWA supports federal legislative solutions, backed by data, including the Assault Weapons Ban of 2023, S.25/ HR. 698 and the Background Check Expansion Act, S.494/Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2023, HR.715

AMWA Opposes Texas Court Decision to Suspend Approval of Mifepristone.

The American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) strongly opposes the Texas court decision in the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine vs. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to suspend approval of #mifepristone. This ruling sets a dangerous precedent for judicial interference that undermines FDA authority to make evidence-based determinations on the safety and efficacy of medications.

Contrary to the plaintiffs arguments, mifepristone has been proven as a safe method of providing abortion care for more than 20 years as well as an invaluable treatment for miscarriage management and other indications.

Lack of access to mifepristone may increase the risk of maternal morbidity and mortality and hinder a physician’s ability to deliver evidence-based standard of care.

March 2023

AMWA Advocates for Pay Equity for All

The American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) has long advocated for pay equity for all. The recent study by Payscale again documents the inequity that exists for women and BIPOC physicians and surgeons. The survey notes an inequity of $35,000/year, leading up to a projected $900,000 gap for a lifetime of employment.

Since 1915, AMWA has worked to bring equity to healthcare at all levels, for patients and for those that serve and care for them. AMWA serves a unique role in advocating for equity in compensation through mentoring, advising, and developing personal comfort when discussing financial matters. AMWA will continue to be a medical organization that advocates for health equity.

AMWA Supports Legislation to Decrease Maternal and Infant Mortality Rates

AMWA supports legislation that would help decrease maternal and infant mortality rates such as ensuring access to obstetrical care in rural and underserved areas, increased funding for maternal support services such as doulas, programs to help reduce costs of prenatal and postnatal care, and expansion of maternity and paternity leave benefits.

AMWA Supports Efforts to Expand Healthcare Access

AMWA advocates for continued access to healthcare through the Medicare program. We agree with legislation and funding for programs that expand healthcare access. View Fact Sheet.

February 2023

AMWA opposed to legal interference to prescribe approved medications including Mifepristone

AMWA is opposed to legal interference that precludes physicians’ ability to practice evidence-based medicine and to prescribe FDA-approved medications, including Mifepristone, to patients as this can lead to preventable adverse consequences.

December 2022

AMWA supports President Biden’s Call for a Ban on Assault Weapons

October 2022

AMWA Affirms Importance of Nutrition to Good Health

AMWA understands the impact of nutrition on health and disease and the role of food as medicine in the care of patients. AMWA commits to incorporating healthy nutrition into AMWA conferences and promoting this education in all AMWA branches. We will advocate for clinical curricula that addresses nutritional issues and the barriers posed by social and structural determinant of health.

AMWA Stands with Women and Girls in Iran

As a longstanding champion of gender equality, the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) categorically condemns the targeting of peaceful protesters in Iran who are demanding equal rights and basic human rights.  We support the right of all people to live safely and free from fear, and stand with women and girls in Iran.

AMWA Supports HHS Revisions to the Affordable Care Act that Codify Protections for LGBTQ+ People

The American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) supports the US Department of Health and Human Services adopting revisions to Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act that codify protections for LGBTQ+ people from mistreatment by physicians, other clinicians, and insurers. Adopting this rule will restore and strengthen protections for LGBTQ+ people by clarifying that the definition of “sex” discrimination applies to discrimination based on sex characteristics, intersex traits, and pregnancy and pregnancy termination, and aligns with federal court decisions prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.  AMWA urges adoption of these crucial protections.

September 2022

AMWA Stands with Physicians Performing Abortion Services in the Wake of Roe Being Overturned

Since the United States Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade, physicians and their patients have faced growing uncertainty regarding how rapidly evolving state laws affect care of people in need of abortion services. AMWA is gravely concerned about the legal and administrative vulnerability physicians face amid the ever-changing patchwork of abortion laws and limitations particularly when such laws are intentionally confusing and designed to criminalize care and punish physicians whose goal is to provide appropriate patient care.

AMWA has always upheld the right to reproductive healthcare services on behalf of both patients and physicians. Current events have put that right in very real peril, endangering patients and physicians, legally, physically, emotionally and otherwise. AMWA fully supports physicians who are putting forth their best effort to provide abortion care that complies with current, albeit sometimes convoluted and harmful legal standards, some of which seek to punish them for doing their duty as physicians.

AMWA Opposes a National Ban on Abortion After 15 Weeks

The proposed national ban on abortion after 15 weeks is not based on medical science and introduces intrusion into the patient-physician relationship. Discussions about the risks of pregnancy, labor and delivery, and care during pregnancy should be between the physician/clinician and the patient. Legislating medical care violates shared medical decision making and undermines the science that leads to appropriate medical care. The American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) ardently opposes the legislation of health care, including abortion and other reproductive care.

August 2022

AMWA Opposes Legislative Limits to Abortion

The American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) is dedicated to the advancement of reproductive health and supports access to safe and legal abortion as part of comprehensive reproductive health care for all. We oppose legislation that limits access to abortion, such as that recently passed in Indiana. AMWA will continue to work to ensure that women have full access to reproductive care and that physicians are trained and supported to provide timely care according to the needs of their patients.

AMWA Applauds the U.S. Senate Passage of The Inflation Reduction Act

The American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) applauds the US Senate’s passage of The Inflation Reduction Act, which includes important prescription drug pricing reforms, funding efforts to reduce climate change, and extends subsidies for millions of Americans receiving care through insurance exchanges established through the Affordable Care Act. We call on the House of Representatives to pass this bill and for the President to sign it into law.

July 2022

AMWA Endorses Presidential Executive Order to Protect Reproductive Rights

The American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) supports the efforts made by President Biden to protect access to reproductive health services announced in an Executive Order today. In particular, AMWA upholds the commitment to safeguard reproductive rights, specifically to:

• Protect access to FDA-approved medication abortion Ensure that patients are able to receive emergency medical care related to pregnancy and miscarriage
• Enable interstate travel to attain abortion care and maintain access to contraception
• Protect the privacy of an individual’s health information, including reproductive health information

The Executive Order addresses the need to protect digital health privacy so that sensitive individual health information is not sold to data brokers. AMWA supports all efforts aimed at protecting personal medical privacy as a cornerstone of the invaluable physician-patient relationship.    As with most medical decisions, reproductive health matters, including abortion, are complex and nuanced, necessitating considerations by the patient in consultation with their physician without legislative interference.

AMWA endorses efforts to provide better protective measures that assure physicians are able to practice evidence-based medicine and deliver the most appropriate and necessary care possible. AMWA commends this Executive Order as an important step toward securing physicians’ ability to deliver reproductive-related care without fear of legal repercussions. And, to support patients’ rights to receive desired and necessary reproductive medical care.

AMWA champions these measures that uphold our mission to assure that quality healthcare, including abortion, is accessible and available to all.

— Theresa Rohr-Kirchgraber, MD, Nell Mermin-Bunnell, Isabella Mellits Lopez, Connie Newman, MD on behalf of the American Medical Women’s Association

May 2022

AMWA Grieves Horrific Mass Shootings

The American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) grieves the horrific mass shooting of Black shoppers in Buffalo, NY on May 14 which was motivated by racism and hatred. We join people across the country in calling for racism to be addressed as a public health emergency by the federal government. Additional mass shootings over the same weekend in California and Houston highlight the need for the swift adoption of common sense firearms legislation across the country.

AMWA Continues to Support Reproductive Rights for All Including Access to Safe and Legal Abortions

The American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) has advocated for comprehensive reproductive health throughout its history and remains committed to supporting reproductive rights for all patients, including access to safe and legal abortions.

Studies have shown that one in four U.S. women aged 15 to 44 years will have an abortion by age 45 years, and yet more than half of U.S. women of reproductive age currently live in states that have demonstrated hostility towards abortion care.  If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the result will be a cascade of abortion bans across the country that will worsen access to abortion and endanger the physical and mental health of pregnant people.

Limiting legal access to abortion does not lower the rate of abortions, it makes abortions less safe for the people that have them. A robust body of literature supports that access to comprehensive reproductive health services is essential to overall health. Legislation restricting access to reproductive health services without valid medical justification jeopardizes health. Decisions on pregnancy care, including abortion, are best left to the patient and the physician. The considerations may include, for example, maternal physical and mental health, fetal anomalies, and the use of teratogenic medications. We, as physicians, must ensure that appropriate medical care, including access to abortion, is available to all.

AMWA acknowledges that access to abortion is part of comprehensive reproductive health care. Any decision about abortion care should be made in consultation with a clinician and within the context of respect for bodily autonomy. AMWA opposes any legislative barriers that would limit or criminalize clinicians in counseling their patients on medically appropriate care. Many of the proposed laws include misinformation and disinformation about abortion care. Appropriate public education is needed to counter these widespread and dangerous misstatements.

AMWA will always advocate for reproductive health access, including access to safe and legal abortions.

AMWA Supports Access to Safe and Legal Abortion

As an organization dedicated to the advancement of reproductive health, the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) supports access to safe and legal abortion as part of comprehensive reproductive health care for all.

March 2022

AMWA Applauds Reauthorization of VAWA

Standing with Ukrainians

Access to Gender-Affirming Healthcare & Education

The American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) has a mission to advocate for equity and a vision of a healthier world and believes that all patients should have access to medical treatment and health education, including gender-affirming care. We strongly oppose the interference of government in the patient-clinician relationship and evidence-based medical decision-making. Research has shown that providing gender-affirming care improves physical and mental health. As such, we condemn legislative efforts that seek to criminalize those participating in that care.

AMWA Calls for Halt to the Use of “Excited Delirium” as a Medical Diagnosis

The American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) advocates for equity and the equitable treatment of all people. We strongly oppose the use of so-called “excited delirium,” which is not a validated medical diagnosis or condition  as an indication or justification for the use of excessive force or chemical sedation by law enforcement or others. We oppose the use of psychoactive agents in agitated or otherwise distressed people in a community or law enforcement setting without a valid medical reason due to the risks these pose in non-clinical settings and the inequitable ways in which they have been used. “Excited delirium” and its resulting inequitable and often violent management violate human rights and AMWA calls for law enforcement to immediately discontinue this practice.