Advocacy Activities & Updates
SMFM supports policies to advance optimal and equitable perinatal outcomes for all who desire or experience pregnancy, and we prioritize those proposals aimed at eliminating health inequities. This work is guided by our 2023-2024 Advocacy Agenda. Letters, testimony, and other documents related to SMFM’s federal and state advocacy efforts can be found below.
Federal Activities
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August 16, 2024: SMFM submitted comments on a proposal to reform the National Institutes of Health (NIH) put forward by the House Energy & Commerce Committee. SMFM's comments addressed the proposal's impact on obstetric research and the pipeline of physician-scientists in the field.
July 30, 2024: SMFM joined fellow members of the Steering Committee of the Coalition to Advance Maternal Theraupetics (CAMT) in a response to a request for information on what Congress can do to bring about the next generation of treatments. The response urges Congress to prioritize efforts aimed at improving the inclusion of pregnant and lactating populations in clinical research.
June 20, 2024: SMFM joined 15 partner organizations in sending a letter urging Congressional leaders to include provisions in FY 2025 federal spending bills that will advance the inclusion of pregnant and lactating people in clinical trials.
April 1, 2024: SMFM joined 37 partner organizations in a letter to Congressional leaders calling for increased funding in FY 2025 for groundbreaking research at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
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April 9, 2024: SMFM joined nearly 60 partner organizations in a letter urging Congressional leaders to protect COVID relief funds at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from FY 2024 recissions and cuts in future budget agreements.
April 1, 2024: SMFM joined 83 partner organizations in a letter to Congressional leaders calling for increased funding in FY 2025 for the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
March 28, 2024: SMFM joined nearly 60 partner organizations in a letter to Congressional leaders calling for increased funding in FY 2025 for the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) in order to reinforce NCHS’ role as the world’s gold standard producer of health statistics.
March 26, 2024: SMFM joined 170 partner organizations in a letter to Congressional leaders calling for increased funding for critical public health programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in FY 2025. The letter also opposes efforts to cut agency funding or attach harmful policy riders to the final CDC funding bill.
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September 9, 2024: SMFM submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on a proposed rule that would create new minimum standards for hospitals providing obstetric care.
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June 26, 2024: SMFM joined 35 partner organizations in sending a memo to leaders at the US Department for Health & Human Services outlining six recommendations to improve the federal sterilization consent form and process.