Integrating a SRHE Lens: Recommendations for the HHS Reproductive Healthcare Access Task Force

By Jamie Hart

CECA and our partners are enthusiastic about the development of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Task Force on Reproductive Healthcare Access (Task Force) and its aim to bolster access to essential sexual and reproductive health (SRH) care. Given the many recent assaults on SRH, the Task Force is timely and needed.

In collaboration with our partners, CECA sent a letter on March 9th to the Task Force detailing how it can expand contraceptive access in keeping with principles of sexual and reproductive health equity (SRHE) and why it is necessary to examine the full range of SRH services. To be clear, access to contraception is not a solution for restrictions or bans on abortion. People need access to both types of lifesaving healthcare as well as the full scope of SRH care.

Drawing from CECA’s Recommendations for Achieving Universal, Equitable Access to Quality Contraception and Priority Roadmap for Policy-Ready Contraceptive Research, the letter delineates our evidence-based recommendations for how the Task Force can best advance its goal of facilitating collaborative, innovative, transparent, equitable, and action-oriented approaches to protect and bolster reproductive health. 

The letter includes: 

• How the recommendations were developed and prioritized

• Specific actions that the Task Force can take 

• A diverse list of signing organizations, including 10 CECA Core Members and an additional 15 organizations

We are grateful to all of the signers and other partner organizations for their content expertise, advocacy, and support. We look forward to supporting the work of the Task Force and will continue to keep you informed about our collaborative work.