Happy Holidays from Power to Decide

‘Tis the season of joy and giving! We at Power to Decide would like to express our thanks to you for supporting young people’s power to decide if, when, and under what circumstances to get pregnant and have a child. We look forward to working with all of you in the New Year, and wish you, your colleagues, and family a happy and healthy holiday season.

Gillian Sealy, Interim CEO, Power to Decide

NEWS FROM POWER TO DECIDE

Welcoming A New CEO

Our Board of Directors has unanimously selected Dr. Raegan McDonald-Mosley to be the organization’s next Chief Executive Officer.

Dr. McDonald-Mosley, MD, MPH, who assumes the position on January 4, 2021, is a widely recognized expert in sexual and reproductive health with experience as a practicing OB-GYN and a deep commitment to reproductive health and justice. She currently serves as Chief Medical Officer for Planned Parenthood of Maryland and formerly served in the same role at Planned Parenthood Federation of America. A fellow of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Dr. McDonald-Mosley succeeds Ginny Ehrlich, who served as the organization’s CEO until April 2020.

One Key Question^® Online

Using One Key Question in a primary care setting increases patient satisfaction, according to a recent article published in Contraception. This pregnancy desire screening tool meets patients where they are by recognizing that some want to get pregnant, some do not, and some are ambivalent. One Key Question helps health care and social service providers start a conversation with patients about if, when, and under what circumstances they want to get pregnant and have a child.

Join thousands of trained providers by registering for the One Key Question Online Certification Training, which covers topics such as reproductive well-being, unconscious bias in family planning, and how to implement this program at clinical and non-clinical sites.

ThxBirthControl Wrap Up

Thank you to everyone who participated in Thanks, Birth Control Day this year! Together we told the world why birth control matters and why we love our methods. Check out highlights from this year’s incredible celebration on our Stories page.

Expanding Reproductive Health Access Through State Policy

Some states have passed (or are currently working to pass) policies to protect and extend access to reproductive health. To better understand what states are taking a lead in this area, we chart three policies on a state-by-state basis: extended supply of contraception, pharmacist prescribing of contraception, and protecting contraceptive coverage. Learn more about how and why these policies matter.

Our Inaugural Power Talk

In late November, we hosted Dr. Megan Stubbs, Board Certified Sexologist; Dr. Staci Tanouye, MD, FACOG, Gynecologist; and Power to Decide's Interim CEO Gillian Sealy in a 30-minute conversation about why birth control is so important, why access and knowledge about it matter, and why they are thankful for their birth control. Moderated by Ms. Magazine, this is the first of a quarterly series of conversations on reproductive health. If you missed the program, view it here.

Our Newest Power Womxn

We’re committed to uplifting the many individuals working to improve access to women’s reproductive health options. This month’s power womxn is Cristina Leos, MSPH, PhD, co-founder of Real Talk. Read her story.

RWB Team: Travis County, Texas

Earlier this year, we selected 8 teams from across the US to partner with us in implementing our reproductive well-being work within their communities. Reproductive well-being means that all people have the information, services, and support they need to have control over their bodies and to make their own decisions related to sexuality and reproduction throughout their lives.

Travis County, which includes Austin and its burgeoning surrounding communities, has a population of 1.3 million. The young population in Travis County in particular is diverse; almost half of the population under age 18 is Hispanic, one-third is white, and the rest identifies as Black, Asian, or another race or ethnicity. Neighboring smaller towns face barriers in transportation and access to reproductive health services.

The team is working with existing collaborative organizations to expand focus on adolescent and young adult reproductive well-being. Organizations include the Center for Adolescent Health at People's Community Clinic, Travis County Adolescent Health Collaborative, Texas Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy who sponsored a Texas Youth Friendly Initiative, Austin Public Health Community Health Improvement Plan, Fast Track Cities Austin, and International Adolescent Health Week. Currently, the focus is on an educational, youth-driven symposium planned for March.

POLICY UPDATES

Planning for the New Administration

In advance of the November election, we offered recommendations for the first 100 days of the Administration that would take office in January. As transition planning is underway, we highlight these steps that we believe are key to achieving reproductive well-being and ensuring that everyone has the power to decide if, when, and under circumstances to get pregnant and have a child.

Appropriations Work Continues

The Senate Appropriations Committee released its 12 appropriations bills for fiscal year (FY) 2021, as part of ongoing negotiations between the House and Senate. As a reminder, Congress did not agree on a final appropriations deal by the end of the last fiscal year. Instead, Congress passed a short-term continuing resolution (CR) that funded the government at current levels through December 11, 2020. Attached to that CR was a measure to extend the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) through December 11. As Congress works to secure FY 2021 funding beyond December 11, you have an opportunity to weigh in with your members of Congress. For more information, including how you can easily contact your members of Congress, click here.

States Legislatures Gearing Up

It’s hard to believe, but new state legislative sessions will be here before we know it. Visit our Advancing Contraceptive Access Toolkit to see where your state stands on a variety of factors. Consider what your state can do to advance the following policies (which have the advantage of being no-cost or low-cost to state governments, as most will have decreased budgets), if you don’t already have them: coverage for an extended supply of contraception, protecting contraceptive coverage, and pharmacist prescribing of contraception. You can find all of our state policy resources here. 

POWER UPDATES

Click here to see the top publications and articles on sexual health published in the last month.

OUR COMMITMENT TO QUALITY

We are proud to share that non-profit evaluator Charity Navigator has recently awarded Power to Decide our 14th-consecutive four-star rating! We earned this achievement based on our financial health and our commitment to accountability and transparency in our work. Power to Decide couldn’t have reached this milestone without our supporters. Thank you for being a part of our community!

GENEROUS SUPPORT FOR OUR WORK

We would like to thank the following sponsors who made this year’s Thanks, Birth Control campaign possible with their generous support: PRJKT Ruby, TherapeuticsMD, Agile Therapeutics, TwentyEightHealth, HeyDoctor, Foundation Consumer Healthcare, Nurx, and the JPB Foundation. Because of all of our sponsors, we at Power to Decide have the resources needed to continue thanking birth control every day!

We would also like to extend our gratitude to all who joined us for Giving Tuesday! A special thank you to our partner Hers for matching Giving Tuesday donations, allowing our supporters to double the impact of their generosity.

Giving Tuesday might be over, but it’s not too late to support the power to decide. Now more than ever, we’re relying on the generosity of donors like you to help us ensure that all young people have what they need to plan their futures. If you’re doing your holiday shopping on Amazon consider making Power to Decide your AmazonSmile charity, which will give 0.5% of proceeds from your eligible purchases to us to continue our important work. Join us today.