Reproductive Health Access Project

The Reproductive Health Access Project (RHAP) is dedicated to ensuring that everyone in the United States can access reproductive health care. We do this by mobilizing, training, and supporting primary care clinicians to provide abortion, contraception, and miscarriage care. We are guided by the belief that that everyone, everywhere should be able to safe and easily access basic reproductive health care from their own health care provider. RHAP works to mainstream health care services that have been marginalized for far too long.

The Reproductive Health Access Project is committed to expanding access to reproductive health care - specifically abortion, contraception, and miscarriage care. We do this by focusing our efforts on several key populations: primary care clinicians, specifically family physicians and advanced practice clinicians, and community health centers.

Family physicians and advanced practice clinicians (APCs) provide the bulk of primary care in this country. Because they are also more likely than other clinicians to work in underserved communities and in rural areas supporting family physicians and APCs to provide abortion, contraception and miscarriage care has the potential of greatly expanding access to individuals most in need.
Federally-Qualified Health Centers, also known as Community Health Centers (CHCs), are our nation’s largest network of primary care providers and provide care to our nation’s most underserved communities. CHCs are required by law to provide comprehensive primary and preventive health care – including voluntary family planning and prenatal care. CHCs track record providing mandated family planning services and miscarriage care is mixed. RHAP strongly believes that as CHCs continue to expand their role in our nation’s health care delivery system, it is critical that they address our country’s reproductive health needs, including abortion care.
Everything RHAP does—from our miscarriage management work, to our Reproductive Health and Advocacy Fellows, to the work of our Reproductive Health Access Network—intentionally targets primary care clinicians, community health centers, and clinicians working in community health center settings.

The Reproductive Health Access Project is a high impact organization--accomplishing a lot with a relatively small budget. We are able to do this because:
Our staff is strong and is led by nationally recognized leaders in the primary care, reproductive health, and public health fields.
Our national network of 2,200+ clinicians in 46 states help us further deepen and expand our impact.
Our board of directors is comprised of individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds who share a deep commitment to RHAP’s mission and dedicate significant time, effort and resources to support the organization. Their expertise complements the staff and strengthens the organization.
Our advisory board consists of thoughtful leaders who provide counsel on issues specific to their areas of expertise to further the priorities and goals of the organization. Advisory Board members are called upon individually on an as-needed basis to advise the organization’s Board of Directors and staff.
We develop strong collaborative relationships with local and national partners that allow us to amplify our impact and extend our reach in ways we could never to on our own.

The Reproductive Health Access Network (Network) has grown tremendously over the past 3 years. Prior to November 2016, there were 680 clinician members and seven Clusters in List states. We now have # members and 22 Clusters in 21 states (list states). In 2017, Network members provided clinical talks and advocated for policies at the state and national level.

Since 2013 Miscarriage Care Initiative (MCI) has integrated comprehensive management of early pregnancy loss into 14 health centers in the following states Montana, Michigan, Illinois, North Carolina, California, Washington, Maine, Colorado, and Indiana. In addition, 11 institutions integrated management of early pregnancy loss into their family medicine residency education and clinical champions went on to provide education on miscarriage management at local and regional conferences.

Since 2017 the Reproductive Health Care and Advocacy Fellowship has graduated 23 fellows (5 additional fellows will graduate in 2019); fellowship sites currently exist in NY, MA, & MN; a new site in WA will open in 2019.
-91% of fellows have provided abortion care since finishing fellowship
-74% are currently providing abortion care in 12 different states (AZ,CA,DE,MA,MD,MI,MN,NJ,NY,OR,PA,WA) (we could count up the different cities, too)
-87% of fellows have taught others at some point since fellowship either as family medicine residency faculty, RHAP fellowship director or as a surgical abortion trainer
-61% of fellows are currently teaching in one of these roles.

The Hands-on Reproductive Health Training Center has trained 17 physicians, 44 APCs from 15 community-based organizations and hospitals in NYC.

We are continuing to expand and deepen the work of our Network. Our goal is to have members in all 50 states and to make reproductive health care an integral part of primary care.

Developing more fellowship training sites, in underserved areas in particular, is an organizational goal.

And, we are committed to expanding access to comprehensive early pregnancy loss management, as this an increasingly important area of work as abortion access becomes more limited.