As global public health leaders, mothers, sisters, daughters, aunts, partners, and friends, we are deeply unsettled by the Supreme Court of the United States’ decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. This decision not only takes away the fundamental right to control one’s body and future, but this is also an urgent public health issue with far-reaching and negative impacts on the physical and mental health of individuals, families, communities, our nation, and the world as a whole.Â
Access to high quality sexual and reproductive health services is a cornerstone of women’s and girls’ human rights. As global health practitioners, we have witnessed the devastating consequences of illegal and unsafe abortions on the lives of those who have undergone them. We have also seen, firsthand, how comprehensive reproductive care–including safe and legal abortion–can help individuals and families fulfill healthy, productive, and happy lives.Â
In our work, we are responsible for promoting evidence-based solutions that provide optimal public health and upholding human rights for all people. Evidence shows that restricted access to abortion services does not reduce abortion rates, it only reduces safe abortions. In fact, when access is restricted, unsafe abortions increase, which lead to significantly higher rates of maternal morbidity and mortality. In the United States, Black, Brown, and Indigenous girls and women, and the poor will disproportionately bear this burden.Â
As global public health leaders from the WomenLift Health US cohorts of 2020, 2021, and 2022, we commit to intensifying the fight to ensure that all Americans have the basic right to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and justice, have the power to make their own reproductive health choices, and have control over their futures. We were pleased to see President Biden’s recent Executive Order aiming to protect patients’ safe and private access to abortion and contraception. This is a first step, but much more action is needed. We urge elected and appointed officials to codify access to abortion in the laws of this country through federal legislation and additional mandates. We also call upon our colleagues in the global public health sector to join us in expressing their support and taking action in the critical weeks and months to come.Â
Kaitlin Christenson, MPH; global health policy expert
Jumana Qamruddin, MPH; global health policy and programming expert
Kim Longfield, MPH, PhD; global health research and communications expert
Margaret Prust, MPH; global health researcher
Erika Larson, MSc; global health policy and advocacy expert
Saroj Sedalia, MPH; global health policy and programming expert
Bhavya Gowda, MSPH; global health programming expert
Savitha Subramanian, MPH, DrPH; global health programming and research expert
Nancy Puttkammer, MPH, PhD; global health program monitoring and evaluation specialist
Rebecca Levine, MPH; global maternal, newborn, and child health policy and programming expert
Samantha Diamond, MPH; global health policy and systems expert
Samara Andrade, MA; global health policy and programming expert
Susan A. Wang, MD, MPH; global health policy and programming expert
Marissa Leffler, MPP; global health policy and programming expert
Onikepe Owolabi, MD, MSc, PhD.; global health research and policy expert
Diana Vaca McGhie, MPA; global health policy and international affairs expert
Allison Spensley, MPH, MSW; global health policy, systems, and programming expert
Natalie Meyers, MPH; global health programming expertÂ
Sana Syed, MD, MSCR, MSDS; global health researcher and clinical investigatorÂ
Sara Clements, MPH; global health expert
Mischka Garel, MPH; global health programming and research expert
Debora B. Freitas López, MS; global health expert
Lanice C. Williams, MSc, CHES; global health policy and gender equality advocate
Skye Gilbert Yoden, MBA; digital and global health expert
Sudha Jayaraman, MD, MSc, FACS; trauma and emergency surgeon, ICU doctor and global surgery expert
Laura B. Lewandowski, MD, MS, FAAP; pediatrician and global health researcher
Stephanie Gallagher, MA; senior technical advisor for private sector engagement in global health and SRHRÂ
Allison Phillips; global health expert
Erin Williams, MSW; global and trust-based grantmaker in sexual and reproductive health
Rena Greifinger, MS; feminist philanthropy and global reproductive rights activist
Kate Somers, JD, MPH, MA: global health policy and programming expertÂ
Deepika Kandula, MPH, MBA; global health leaderÂ
Laura Fitzgerald, CNM, MSN; certified nurse-midwife, writer, senior technical advisor for maternal and newborn health, nursing & midwifery, and health systems strengthening
Kate H. Rademacher, MHA; global health leader with a focus on sexual and reproductive health
Rachel Deussom, MSc; global health systems and health workforce expert
Ingrid Katz, MD, MHS; global health researcher
Iris Mwanza, LLB, LLM, MA, PhD; global health/gender equality advocate
Brittany Hume Charm, MBA; global health partnerships leader
Katherine Van Loon, MD, MPH; oncologist, global oncology expertÂ
Ritu Kamal, MS, MBA; global health technology innovation expert
Bindiya Patel, MPA; global health leader
Lyudmila Nepomnyashchiy, MSc; global health leader with a focus on market access
Sia Nowrojee, MSW; global health and gender equality advocate
Jacquelyn M. Caglia, MPH; global health programming and communications expert
Tanvi Pandit-Rajani; family planning advocate and expertÂ
Aurélie Brunie, MS, PhD; global health researcher
Adanna Chukwuma, MD, MSc, PhD; global health policy expert
Jana Smith, MPH; global health programming and research expert
- Elizabeth Turner, MSc, PhD; statistician and global health researcher
- Megan Huchko, MD, MPH; dual appointment as an associate professor in the department of obstetrics & gynecology and the Duke Global Health Institute
- Dr. Kashmira Date, MD, MPH, Director of Medical Affairs for Vaccines with Johnson & Johnson Global Public Health (GPH)
- Olivia Vélez, PhD MS MPH, RN; global digital health expert and nurse
