Contact Your Elected Officials to Protect the Right to Maternal Health Care

The June 2022 Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, trigger laws and legislation either pending or passed in nearly half the nation’s 50 states, along with recent court action to restrict U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved therapies, threatens the doctor-patient relationship and may impede the ability of health care professionals, including hematologists, to provide medical care and counsel to their patients according to their training and ethical obligations.

ASH has been active in opposing to any laws and regulations that interfere in the confidential relationship between a patient and their physician and seek to inhibit clinicians’ ability to secure healthy futures for patients and their families. The Society's actions have included a press statement in response to the Supreme Court decision, in addition to a more extensive ASH policy statement on The Right to Maternal Health Care, which outlines the many blood disorders that put pregnant women at risk of severe, even fatal, health complications and states that access to evidence-based medical information and lifesaving medical options are a maternal right. In addition to our own statements, ASH has also signed on to a letter initiated by the Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS) and another developed by the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG). ASH has compiled all statements, resources, and sessions from the 2022 ASH Annual Meeting on the Maternal Health Care Resources page.

ASH supports efforts to educate lawmakers on the highly nuanced and complex nature of this issue and help inform policy decisions that preserve the right to full reproductive and maternal health care services for the patients with hematologic disorders, and that protect the confidential relationship between the patient and their physician. Please take a moment to enter your information below and tell your federal and state elected officials that you oppose harmful restrictions that impact the right to maternal health in hematology and urge them to prioritize policies that improve health care for communities in your state. Additionally, stress to your legislators the importance of preserving federal agencies’ authority to protect the public’s health and ensure access to care. We encourage you to use the statement on The Right to Maternal Health Care in your outreach efforts and to add to the draft letter and share a personal perspective demonstrating the urgent need to protect access to care.