Repro Health Hub

The Urban Initiative for Reproductive Health has begun! The Rocky Mountain West Regional Summit, the first of four regional summits that will take place in the next month, was held last week in Denver. Wendy Norris covered the summit on RH Reality Check:

After weathering eight years of conservative attacks, the pro-choice community held high hopes that the Obama Administration, bolstered by democratic majorities in Congress, would signal an end to partisan bickering over federal funding for comprehensive care and the tedious national obsession with abortion.

With that optimism scattering to the four winds of manufactured political controversy, the National Institute for Reproductive Health is organizing the Urban Initiative for Reproductive Heath, four regional urban summits to bring providers, policymakers, activists, funders and legislators together to share effective program strategies and localized incidence data.

“There is a limitless potential to create change for women’s health at a local level,” said NIRH president Kelli Conlin at a Sept. 23 kick-off event in Denver. “What people here realize, much more clearly than people out East or in Washington, is that not everything has to be a knock-down, drag-out fight. You can get things done without burning down the house.”

Seeking common ground was a frequent theme throughout the discussions on sexuality education, underserved populations, and the intersection of reproductive freedom and economic self-sufficiency. Check out the whole piece to read about the lessons learned by our partners from Missoula, MT to Portland, OR.

Next, we’re headed to Atlanta for the Southeastern Regional Summit on Sept. 30-Oct. 2, followed by Chicago, Ill., (Oct. 21-23) and Los Angeles, Calif., (Oct. 29-30). Visit the Urban Initiative for Reproductive Health website to stay up-to-date!