Common Ground through the Urban Initiative
Monday, August 3rd, 2009
Reproductive health advocates have recently engaged in a search for “common ground”—an agreement that will transcend ideological discord. In her recent article on RH Reality Check, the National Institute for Reproductive Health’s Amy Boldosser writes that real common ground can be found at local levels, where municipal policy-makers and community-based leaders are responding to the needs of their cities. And the National Institute’s Urban Initiative for Reproductive Health can help them get there.
Amy writes,
Rather than focusing on the broad ideological debates, local officials on both sides of the abortion issue have found common ground by responding to the needs they see every day in their communities. Along the way, they have improved not only the reproductive health but the overall health and potentially the economic outlook for the people they represent.
Cities across America experience poor reproductive health outcomes. Regardless of ideological disposition, community stakeholders are interested in improving AIDS incidence rates, decreasing unintended pregnancy, and eliminating infant mortality. A multi-year project, the Urban Initiative is helping create and promote real policy solutions to address the reproductive health challenges facing cities today. By creating partnerships between elected officials and advocates at the city and county levels, the Urban Initiative advances an agenda that promotes policies and programs focused on improving reproductive health outcomes.
Amy concludes,
The quickest route to common ground is where the interest isn’t to debate whether abortion is right or wrong but to take action on issues that affect us most. The most effective common ground is when communities come together to prevent teen pregnancy, stop the spread of HIV and STIs, provide pre-natal care and reduce infant and maternal mortality, eliminate environmental toxins, address racial and ethnic health disparities, and improve care for low-income families who are disproportionately lacking health care access. This common ground starts where we all live, where the grassroots work takes place, where all politics is local.
The Urban Initiative is helping to create reproductive health care programs and policies that can be responsive to the needs of a specific community. By keeping the locale’s best interest in mind, the Urban Initiative bypass any ideological debates that may pop up.
By Renée Heininger