As we find ourselves on the morning of AMSA’s annual Health Equity Week of Action, I am honored to share an important announcement about the future of advocacy within AMSA.

AMSA has long been shaped by student leadership and a conviction to demand justice when our field and our world fall short of it. In a system that routinely discounts student voices, we feel a deep responsibility to safeguard and uplift exactly that.

Today, this responsibility feels especially urgent. From austerity policies that have introduced historic federal healthcare cuts to political intrusion into our exam rooms and curriculum, we are witnessing the organized abandonment of the communities that we entered medicine to serve.��

As AMSA’s student leadership and staff have grappled with this moment, one truth has become abundantly clear: if AMSA is to remain a home for student-driven justice, we must be structurally equipped to turn conviction into action.

For this reason, AMSA is proud to announce the reintroduction of our historic Legislative Affairs Director student leadership position and the launch of our new Advocacy & Action arm. This revitalization reflects our renewed commitment to ensuring that our advocacy is principled, courageous, and grounded in community.

It is my great pleasure to formally introduce Donya Ahmadian as AMSA’s newest Legislative Affairs Director, whose leadership embodies this spirit. Over the past few months, you have heard from the two of us as we have entered into this period of renewed action. Today, I am delighted to present you with Donya’s reflections on this moment and her evolving vision guiding AMSA’s renewed Advocacy & Action Arm.

In solidarity,��

Nikitha Balaji (they/them)

AMSA National President��

____________________________________________________________________________

A Message from Donya Ahmadian

AMSA Legislative Affairs Director��

Dear Friends,

Advocacy has always been the central wellspring of AMSA’s mission. In the 1950’s, AMSA, then known as the Student American Medical Association (SAMA), made the courageous decision to break away from the American Medical Association (AMA). At the time, the AMA’s philosophical orientation was in clear misalignment with student voices, who were centering their visions on advancing civil and human rights. Much like today, this boldness and commitment to the core of our integrity can feel incredibly frightening. Students walked the difficult threadlines of facing professional backlash, navigating institutional power dynamics, and finding their voices amongst the many others encouraging conformation to a version of medicine they were unwilling to participate in.��

Understandably, when faced with such a decision point- capitulation can feel like the path of least resistance- oftentimes, because it is. A defining feature of various systems of oppression share this quality- encouraging contortion of one’s own value systems to fit what is palatable to the most powerful. The tension that exists in this space can be sacred to identify & as late psychiatrist Viktor Frankl once wrote…”��

“Between stimulus and response there is a ���貹����…

in that space is our power to choose our response.”

Frankl goes on to share that in this response, whatever it may be, we will find both our “growth” and our “freedom.” This begs the question-�� how do we reach this sense of freedom when knowing how to respond can feel so disillusioning? So frightening? So unknown? When we are faced with risking the same backlash as our predecessors who paved the way for us?��

That is the very element of medicine that we at AMSA believe needs to be addressed. The field was not made to uplift individualistic ideologies that drown out the voices of its people. When we make that very oath to do no harm- when we feel our white coats first graze our backs- we believed in something greater. We refuse to believe that this calling is being mirrored in the medical and sociopolitical landscape we are living in. Equally, we are energized by that truth we first sought. For, that which binds us here at AMSA may feel like the very values that separate us in other spaces- and if we can allow that discomfort to coexist with the vision we have clung to- then we will continue to pave our way.��

That is not a check engine light telling us we are on the wrong path- but instead, that we are the long path of the very freedom Frankl was referencing. When the freedom of choice feels threatened at every corner- we are here to remind one another that our humanity is not something for sale. Autonomy of choice is not a privilege to be earned- or kept accessible to the groups of our choosing. As a physician, this is one of our primary groundings- to care deeply for others in their wholeness- acknowledging their totality and the many elements that contribute to wellness and illness. It is not, however, an opportunity to cast judgement and dictate worthiness or access to life-saving and life-enhancing care. Quite simply, you cannot truly take care of people when you deny who they fundamentally are and what they fundamentally need.

For us here at AMSA, these are the reflections we have been sitting with. The critical examination of the world we are living in- the moral reckoning with the harm around us- and asking where we fit within the larger ecosystem of it all. Further, we recognize that we only ask ourselves these questions when something incredibly precious feels on the line.��

We are here to assure you that the walls you painted with the dreams that brought you into medicine remain real and tangible. The care we find in one another reminds us that hope, too, is this at its very core. When we look closely, we can find a million reasons to still see this hope everywhere- and we see this mirrored when we think of you.

Your voices matter in every space that you feel called to enter. You are truth-tellers, rooted in the fight for equity in all its forms. We believe that health is a human right- much like access to the very things that make health possible and give it its best chance to grow. Embedded in this belief is the understanding that health is multidimensional-a living tapestry woven from a shared sense of belonging and safety. Where legality is not a term used to define a living person. Where compassion is not a privilege but an extension of human dignity- owed to all. In short, human rights is a nonpartisan issue.��

For us at AMSA, these guiding emotions and reflections have been redefining what advocacy means to us- not just in spirit- but in its very core. We are so proud of the work that each of you, our incredible members, have poured into each season of this journey. Now, as we meet this moment, we are intentionally returning to the very legacy that first brought us together.��

Beginning with our Code Blue movement last year, we have been listening closely to you- working to build a safe harbor for you to land. There is a place for you in the hills and valleys of this world and we hope that one of them can always be here with us. Whether in still or raging waters, there is something so foundationally captivating about a lighthouse. The path towards land may be treacherous and daunting- but there it remains- lying still, firm, and rooted. Lighthouses are an invitation to believe that no matter where we are in our journeys, there is something out there waiting for us- just in case we want or need it. It both lights our path and in the darkness, reminds us that even when the shore feels out of reach, it has never left us. To believe in the unseen or that which we cannot yet feel is a discipline, much like hope, as abolitionist Mariame Kaba taught us.��

That is our vow to you and as we build our vision for the coming years, we hope you will dream alongside us. To reflect this, we have intentionally restructured the Advocacy arm of our organization as a renewed path- Advocacy & Action. This division of our organization will serve, with revitalized energy and purpose, and be clearly focused upon uplifting the democracy we believe in- one that is centered in social justice, human rights, and equity for every being- full stop. We will be guided by transparent values which will reflect AMSA’s organizational priorities through a focused lens, anchoring three foundational pillars to guide us in this reorientation-advocacy, education, and community. These pillars serve as the architecture of our lighthouse- the beams that will hold the infrastructure of our vision and thread them together, right alongside you.��

It is our hope that you will see yourself within each of these pillars. In education, we see the expansion of our moral imaginations and the development and maintenance of curriculum rooted in liberatory medicine- things we will not often find within the walls of our institutions. In advocacy, we will find the building of our tangible skillsets- such as call-in’s to Congress, sign-on letters, and rapid response elements- engaging in concentrated action to drive change.��

From this north star, we harness the power of learning to strategically and ��emphatically utilize our voices for what we not only believe- but know ��is right. We will witness how our power compounds when we are fundamentally equipped to�� respond to the issues around us- when we normalize the duality of fear- for with it and through it, we can build courage. Finally, through a focus upon community, we reflect the integrated understanding that to feel empowered to build our advocacy, we must feel safe enough to make sense of the many emotions we are experiencing. In a system that induces paralysis and nervous system dysregulation- here, we can normalize anger, confusion, and fear- and channel it into the building blocks for our sacred belonging. To feel deeply is not a liability- but an indicator that you are on the right side of history. Together, we can validate this shared lived experience, investing in nonjudgmental spaces and unifying our voices for the change we seek.��

As we walk this journey together, I bring us to a final message from author Donna Roberts:��

“A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.”

We hope we can be that friend. When the world feels heavy, may we be willing to sing the song in our hearts back to one another- for words etched in permanence can never truly be forgotten- much like our dream for the world we wish to practice our version of medicine & healing in.

We will deepen this conversation this week at Health Equity Week of Action (HEWA), beginning at 6:00 PM ET this evening, where we will spend the next 5 days co-dreaming together.

On our HEWA landing page, you can explore our daily themes and featured speakers/programming in detail. We have the gift of hosting so many aligned allies, including the , , , the , DC’s, / the , , from UCLA/Harbor-UCLA/USC, , , and the , amongst various AMSA national leaders and staff.

As a general note: indicating interest for any single event on our grants you automatic access to all sessions, as the Zoom link recurs for each gathering.��

It is such a privilege to be in this fight with you .

Let’s get started.

With care,

Donya Ahmadian, MS, MPH (she/her)

AMSA Legislative Affairs Director��

The post Introducing AMSA’s Legislative Affairs Director and Advocacy & Action Arm appeared first on AMSA.

AMSA Abortion Care & Reproductive Justice Institutes – Summer 2026

Four In-person Learning Opportunities the Summer in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville, NC!

Summer 2026 – Applications Open Now – Seats Limited!

Four Date Options in Summer 2026:
May 14 – 17 (Summer A)
June 11 – 14 (Summer B)
July 30 – August 2 (Summer C)
August 20 – 23 (Summer D)

No cost for selected applicants – Scholarships cover ALL expenses
Apply Today!

If YOU are a medical student based in the U.S., an AMSA member* and YOU, like AMSA, believe:

• reproductive health services, including abortion care, are essential to comprehensive health care,
• legal, safe, voluntary abortions should be available to all who need them, regardless of how much they earn, who they work for, or what state they live in, and
• both Undergraduate Medical Education (UME) and Graduate Medical Education (GME) programs should offer abortion education and training.

If YOU uphold the fundamental principles of reproductive justice:**

• the right to have children,
• the right to not have children, and
• the right to nurture the children we have in a safe and healthy environment.

If YOU are interested in becoming part of a diverse physician workforce that includes highly skilled, culturally sensitive physicians prepared to provide abortion services to those who need them in various health care workplaces.

And, YOU are available ANY of these four date options:

• May 14 – 17 (Summer A)
• June 11 – 14 (Summer B)
• July 30 – August 2 (Summer C)
• August 20 – 23 (Summer D)

READ ON!

The AMSA Abortion Care & Reproductive Health Project is excited to host 4 in-person Abortion Care & Reproductive Justice Institutes this summer.
Each Institute will engage 10 U.S. based medical students in thought-provoking, dynamic conversations, as well as issue education, and hands-on clinical skill-building, with key experts working in abortion care, reproductive health and education, research, or reproductive and social justice.

Our retreat-like setting is a beautiful private location nestled deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The Institutes are designed to provide deep dive opportunities to build knowledge, skills, and connections in a supportive, nurturing and Love-centered community, with a focus on finding and connecting with joy as we work on challenging issues facing our communities and future practice as physicians.

Clinical skill-building sessions will include a MVA “papaya” workshop and values-clarification training.

We will explore the impact of the Dobbs decision on reproductive health access, practice and policies at the state level, as well as medication abortion and self-managed abortion. Learning opportunities will also include:

• effective messaging communications
• networking and advocacy training
• building power and your circles of influence
• identifying and engaging reproductive freedom champions in your state
• values-based research and using data to make change.

The AMSA Reproductive Health Project provides resources and on-going support to organize local education and skill-building sessions for future physicians around the United States.
Institute participants will be encouraged and supported to share the knowledge and skills they will gain through research project posters, journal articles, blog posts, social media, or organizing local events during the 2025-2026 academic year. Local events could include, but are not limited to: clinical skills-building, networking and advocacy training, issue education, understanding state reproductive health policies, and values-based messaging and research.

The program begins on Thursday evening with a group dinner and ends after breakfast on Sunday morning. In addition to didactic and clinical workshop-style learning, there will be ample time for informal conversations, delicious meals and snacks, walking in the woods, star-gazing, and relaxing in the hot-tubs and around the fire. Each participant will have their own bedroom, some bathrooms will be shared. Meals will be prepared together.

• Want to know more about what an AMSA Repro Institute is really like?
  Read what a M4 student who joined us last summer had to say about the experience
  Recharging Your Medical Passion: The Power of a Retreat
  Why Every Medical Student Should Do a Medical Retreat (for any specialty)

Successful applicants will receive reimbursements (up to $600) to cover their travel expenses (students make their own travel arrangements). All meals, on-site training supplies, and transportation from the to the retreat location are provided at no cost.

DEADLINES:

• Application deadline for ALL 2026 Institutes is Sunday, March 29 at 11:59pmPT
• Applicants are accepted on a rolling basis and will be notified of acceptance at least 30 days before the Institute they are selected for
• Selected applicant must confirm attendance within 7 days of notification of their selection

Upon completion of the Institute, certificates of participation to add to your CV will be provided.

Applications Open Now – Seats Limited
Apply Today!

###

For more information email rhp@amsa.org

*AMSA membership info link
**Source –

The post 4 Amazing Summer 2026 Adventures in Learning with the AMSA Reproductive Health Project – Apply Today appeared first on AMSA.

On September 10, 2025, Charlie Kirk was fatally shot at Utah Valley University. That same day, students were injured at a shooting which took place at Evergreen High School in Colorado. On September 11, 2025, at least six different HBCUs received anti-black, violent, and racist threats. All students deserve to learn free from threats of violence and fear.

This week is not an outlier. In 2025 alone, at least 100 incidents of gunfire on school grounds have been identified by Everytown for Gun Safety.1 Gun violence is the current leading cause of death for young people in the U.S.2 As future physicians, we strongly condemn this immoral and unjust state of affairs.��

As escalating violence continues to endanger participation in civic life and the ability to safely receive an education, AMSA affirms the fundamental human right to live free from firearm violence. We urge comprehensive action to prevent firearm violence and protect the future of our democracy.��

We understand the research: commonsense solutions to gun violence exist. Our Preambles, Purposes, and Principles clearly outline many of the federal- and state-level solutions that must be implemented by our policymakers in power, including:��

• Requiring universal background checks for all firearm transfers3
• Enacting a ban on assault weapons (as defined by a one-feature test), which includes parts that may be readily assembled into an assault weapon and expressly prohibits the possession, sale, purchase, transfer, loan, transportation, distribution, importation, and manufacture of such weapons4��
• Subjecting the sale, transfer, and manufacture of both completed and unfinished frames and receivers to the same legislation that relates to fully assembled firearms5
• Prohibiting the sale, transfer, manufacture, and possession of undetectable firearms by requiring that all operable firearms be detectable by standard screening systems5

International Impact of U.S. Gun Violence:��

Gun violence is currently perceived by all parts of society, including large institutional health organizations and the media, as an epidemic that threatens the credence of the U.S. as a developed nation with a safe and healthy society. Some travelers from outside of the U.S. actively avoid visiting this country out of concern of going to a place where gun violence appears to be comparatively out of control. The societal ramifications of gun violence in the U.S. constitute an increasingly dire threat to the country’s international reputation, public health leadership, and educational competitiveness. AMSA has a duty to stand and speak up for a clear, evidence-based, and international-minded agenda in support of these issues.

• The U.S., historically a leader in public health innovations, faces criticism for failing to address gun violence as a preventable public health crisis. This diminishes the country’s moral authority in global health forums.
• U.S. universities are traditionally destinations for international students and scholars, but persistent gun violence on and around campuses threatens their ability to provide a safe academic environment for their current and prospective students, their subsequent ability to recruit new students, and global educational stature.
• Restrictions on gun violence research such as the Dickey Amendment have made the U.S. unique among high-income countries for its lack of robust gun injury data and prevention science, drawing negative attention from societies that prioritize their focus to research and address these issues appropriately.

Actions We Can Take Now:��

In response, AMSA continues to take the lead in helping future physicians gain the tool to address firearm violence. In 2022, AMSA’s Medical Students for Gun Safety (MSGS) Campaign launched a national Firearm Violence Prevention Curriculum Guide, “Integrating Firearm Safety into Medical School Curricula”.6 This guide was created by members of our MSGS Steering Committee and is designed to provide a comprehensive resource and roadmap for firearm violence prevention in medical education, empowering medical students and faculty to be advocates and clinicians.

Future physicians must be part of the solution, now more than ever. Please fill out to stay connected with us as we continue to advocate for gun violence prevention. We call on our members to join us, as we lift our collective voice in demanding change.��

Citations:

1. Gunfire on School Grounds in the United States. Everytown for Gun Safety. Updated September 10, 2025. Accessed September 12, 2025. ��
2. Villarreal, S., Kim, R., Wagner, E., Somayaji, N., Davis, A., & Crifasi, C. K. (2024). Gun Violence in the United States 2022: Examining the Burden Among Children and Teens. Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
3. Ghost Guns. Giffords. April 2, 2025. Accessed September 18, 2025. https://giffords.org/lawcenter/gun-laws/policy-areas/hardware-ammunition/ghost-guns/.
4. Assault Weapons. Giffords. September 9, 2025. Accessed September 18, 2025. https://giffords.org/lawcenter/gun-laws/policy-areas/hardware-ammunition/assault-weapons/#key-elements.
5. Universal Background Checks. Giffords. August 27, 2025. Accessed September 18, 2025. https://giffords.org/lawcenter/gun-laws/policy-areas/background-checks/universal-background-checks/#h-key-legislative-elements.��
6. AMSA. (2022, March 17). AMSA’s Medical Students for Gun Safety Campaign. /amsas-medical-students-for-gun-safety-campaign/
7. Childs, Kevin Lavelle, “A Document Analysis of School Shooting on College Campuses” (2025). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 17311.
8. Jacob Ware. (2025, July 9). American 3. Gun Violence Goes Global. Foreign Affairs. .
9. Kaufman E.J., Delgado M.K. The Epidemiology of Firearm Injuries in the US – The Need for Comprehensive, Real-time, Actionable Data. JAMA. 2022; Vol. 328 N. 12: 1177-1178.
10. Lemieux, F. (2025, June 17). Mass Shootings in the United States. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Criminology. Retrieved 12 Sep. 2025, from .
11. MILBURN, T., & SYED, I. U. (2024). An interdisciplinary examination of a gunshot detection system: The public health context of a policing technology. Critical Social Policy, 45(1), 148-164. (Original work published 2025)

The post AMSA Statement on Recent Campus Violence and the Public Health Crisis of Gun Violence appeared first on AMSA.

Summer 2025 Essay Contest
1st Prize Winner – Medical Student Category

When Decisions Redefine Us.
Essay written by��Temiloluwa Owolabi

I often wonder where I can practice medicine without compromising the values that are dear to me, if pursuing certain specialties also means preparing for legal battles or if I can be the doctor my patients need without putting my license or future at risk. These questions stay with me, not just because they challenge my career plans but because they shake the core of why I chose medicine in the first place. Yet here I am, a future physician preparing to enter the U.S. healthcare system in the aftermath of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, and these uncertainties shape every decision I make.

Born and raised in Nigeria, where conversations about reproductive health were rare and abortion was both illegal and morally condemned. The idea was unthinkable. If I had become pregnant outside of marriage, the decision would have already been made for me. There would be no choice. Choosing medicine was my way of breaking that silence. I believed and still believe that my body belongs to me, and the decisions concerning it should too.��

I thought of the United States as a symbol of patient-centered care and medical autonomy but the Dobbs decision in 2022 changed that perception. It did not just overturn decades of legal protection for abortion; it challenged the foundation of ethical practice in medicine. The boundary between healthcare and government interference became dangerously unclear. Twelve states have banned abortion entirely, and many others have implemented harsh restrictions. Even where abortion remains legal, the impact of Dobbs lingers.

Medical schools hesitate to teach essential procedures. Students are uncertain about what they can safely ask.
Providers second-guess what they can say or do. Fear replaces trust, and silence replaces dialogue.

Planning to practice medicine in the U.S., I have always had a clear picture of the kind of physician I wanted to be. I imagined sitting across patients in their most vulnerable moments, offering clarity instead of confusion and standing by their choices with empathy and strength. I was taught that medicine was about trust and honoring autonomy. I never imagined that in a country I once viewed as a global model of medical freedom, those values would be under threat.

The Dobbs decision did not just change a law; it reminded me that even in places with strong institutions,
basic human rights are never guaranteed and that borders certainly do not protect rights.

I went from planning to apply broadly to residency programs across the U.S. based on mentorship and academic fit to weighing in legal landscapes and abortion policies. This legal and ethical uncertainty places future physicians in a difficult position. The divide between what we are taught is right and what is legally allowed continues to widen. I want to grow into the best physician I can be but I must also consider where I will be legally protected for practicing evidence-based care.��

Scrolling through TikTok one day, I came across a video by creator Becca Bloom, who said,

“Most criticisms fail because they only recognize what is broken, not what will work better within the constraints.”

That got me thinking: what can we, as future physicians, do within the constraints of the Dobbs ruling? As political forces reshape healthcare, we must assert our voices not just in hospitals but also in policy conversations. Physicians must now take more active roles in legal and social movements that advocate for reproductive rights. We are entering an era where healing also means resisting harmful policies that threaten patient autonomy and dignity.

Supporting patients’ decisions go beyond presenting options. It requires creating a space where patients feel safe and heard, regardless of where they come from or what choices they face. Our duty doesn’t just stop at the bedside with individual patients.�� It means advocating for them, educating ourselves and others, challenging harmful narratives, and integrating reproductive care into everyday medical conversations. Advocacy can simply involve volunteering with abortion support networks, writing to lawmakers about harmful legislation or speaking up when a policy undermines what we know to be good, evidence-based care. As medical students, residents and future physicians, the choices we make shape the future of medicine. I believe medicine, at its core, is a form of resistance against illnesses, injustice and silence.

This is not just a reflection; it is a promise. Because, in the end, it is not only about who makes the decision – it is about who has to live with it.

###

2 More Chances this Summer to Get Published & Win Cash Prizes!

Summer 2025 Essay Contest Series is��Open to All AMSA Members!
Separate Competitions for Premeds & Medical Students��

Learn More & Submit Here

Explore the AMSA Reproductive Health Project
Find news, tips, tools, opportunities�� & more!

for AMSA Repro Project Updates

The post 1st Prize Med Student June Essay – When Decisions Redefine Us. appeared first on AMSA.

Summer 2025 Essay Contest
1st Prize Winner – Premedical Student Category

Decisions Beyond the Exam Room: Practicing Autonomy in a Post-Dobbs America
Essay written by Pranitha Kaza

The summer of 2022 marked more than a Supreme Court ruling; it was a turning point for how I, and many aspiring physicians, think about care, ethics, and community. When the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturned decades of legal precedent protecting abortion access, I felt grief, but I also felt clarity. In a moment when the boundaries between medicine and politics collapsed so visibly, even though I was only at the start of my undergraduate career at the time, I knew that my commitment to becoming a physician would require not just clinical training, but a lifelong engagement with advocacy.

Like many pre-medical students, I was once introduced to medical education as being a linear path: do well in school, gain experience, apply, train, and serve. But since Dobbs, the questions I ask myself about that path have shifted. Will I be trained to provide full-spectrum reproductive care? Can I safely advocate for patients in states where abortion is banned or criminalized? How do I reconcile the oath to do no harm with legal mandates that force harm: delaying care for miscarriages, forcing continuation of nonviable pregnancies, or discouraging patients from seeking help?

These aren’t just hypothetical concerns. In states with abortion bans, medical students and residents are being trained in limited environments, unable to learn essential skills or discuss options openly.
And patients, especially those who are low-income, BIPOC, or undocumented, are shouldering the weight of that silence and fear.

I’ve worked with community organizations focused on bodily autonomy, patient education, and reproductive health access to bring it to my own campus. Through a campus student organization, Support, Health, and Education (S.H.E.) for Women, I’ve helped organize and advocate for menstrual equity and distribute accurate, accessible health information about contraception in spaces where stigma and disinformation run deep. This work has shown me the power of local advocacy and the harm of national decisions that ignore it.��The Dobbs ruling didn’t just impact clinics; it disrupted the trust between communities and their providers, raising questions about who medicine serves and who it excludes.

That loss of trust is especially dangerous in a field like medicine, where consent and confidentiality are cornerstones of ethical care.

As a future physician, I want to be in a position to affirm, not control; to protect, not punish.

I want every patient, regardless of their zip code or income, to know that their body belongs to them and that my job is to support their decisions, not impose my own or those of the government.��But that commitment requires preparation. It means working with mentors who believe in autonomy, even when it’s politically inconvenient. And it means staying grounded in community, not just learning from textbooks, but from doulas, abortion storytellers, midwives, and patients themselves. The hidden curriculum in medicine is shaped just as much by politics as it is by professors. And the Dobbs decision calls me to be vigilant beyond reproductive health.

If the state can insert itself into one kind of care, it can do so elsewhere: gender-affirming care, contraception access, maternal health, even end-of-life decisions. Each of these domains rests on the same foundation: that people deserve to make informed choices about their bodies, free from coercion. As someone entering this profession, I see it as my responsibility to reinforce that foundation: not only in my practice, but in policy, research, and education.

There is grief in this moment. But there is also resolve. The surge of organizing in the wake of Dobbs, from youth activists to physicians risking their licenses to care for patients, is a testament to what’s possible when we refuse to normalize injustice. Thirteen states have moved to enshrine abortion rights in their constitutions since the ruling, and more are mobilizing. These decisions matter, too. They remind us that patient-centered care doesn’t end in the exam room. It lives in our institutions, our ballots, our classrooms, and our daily conversations.

The impact of Dobbs has been seismic, but it has also clarified my purpose. I am not becoming a physician in spite of this moment—I am becoming one because of it. My path is not just about learning to heal; it’s about helping build a system where everyone has the right and resources to make decisions about their own body. That is the kind of medicine I believe in. That is the kind of future I’m fighting for.

###

2 More Chances this Summer to Get Published & Win Cash Prizes!

Summer 2025 Essay Contest Series is��Open to All AMSA Members!
Separate Competitions for Premeds & Medical Students��

Learn More & Submit Here

Explore the AMSA Reproductive Health Project
Find news, tips, tools, opportunities�� & more!

for AMSA Repro Project Updates

The post 1st Prize Premed June Essay – Decisions Beyond the Exam Room: Practicing Autonomy in a Post-Dobbs America appeared first on AMSA.

SPOTLIGHT ON HEALTH & REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE��

Reproductive Justice & 15 Years of The Affordable Care Act

Written by Becky Martin, AMSA Senior Manager of Reproductive Health Advocacy

Sunday, March 23rd, marked 15 years since President Obama signed into law The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare as many call it. Since its hard-won passage have signed up for coverage through ACA marketplaces – that means now get their health care coverage via the ACA. An have gained coverage through ACA supported Medicaid Expansion in 41 states and DC.��

�ճ󲹳�’s who now have affordable health care coverage here in the United States — thanks to those who knew our nation could do better and
raised their voices for change, and didn’t take no as the answer.��

We still have a way to go to achieve AMSA’s long-time goal of high-quality, affordable, accessible, sustainable, and equitable healthcare for all in our nation, and join the rest of the countries in the industrialized world in providing universal health care ensuring the human right to health care (Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Article 25).

At AMSA we believe reproductive rights are human rights. With our Reproductive Health Project we explore the connections between reproductive justice and health justice, and work to help students�� lift their voices for reproductive freedom and health care for all. ��We invite you to explore and share the resources below, to celebrate the gains we’ve made, and know that even in the face of the turmoil rising in our country today AMSA’s vision of HEALTH CARE FOR ALL is absolutely achievable & YOU can find YOUR people in AMSA!

– CBPP��

�� – KFF

Medicaid & ACA Medicaid Expansion in YOUR State & Congressional District��

– HealthCare.gov

: Importance & Impact – NWLC

: A Critical Policy That Must Be Protected – Guttmacher Institute

– KFF

Preventive Care Coverage for:

No gender-based premiums:
– KFF

Insurers Cannot Limit Coverage Amounts
– KFF

The post Reproductive Justice & 15 Years of The Affordable Care Act appeared first on AMSA.

SPOTLIGHT ON ABORTION CARE & REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE��

Walking in the Footsteps of Courage��

Written by Joy Udoh, AMSA Reproductive Health Project Fellow

There are many exciting things about the field of OB/GYN that I am looking forward to as July approaches: the joy of supporting a patient through all nine months of gestation, providing counseling on contraceptive care, and helping a young patient understand the changes that her body is undergoing. But, there are also things that concern me. A friend of mine recently reached out to find out how I had been. They wanted to know if match day had happened already but also how I was feeling about the future of my role in OB/GYN under the present social and political landscape.��

The question perfectly encapsulated the mixed emotions that I have felt in the past months. In many ways, I feel eager to move on to the next milestone in my medical career but, this feeling is stymied by apprehension about the state of reproductive healthcare.��

What does it mean that hospitals are walking back their efforts to promote
diversity, equity, and inclusion?��

Will I have to step aside as ICE officials raid a labor and delivery unit?��

Can a state I don’t practice in file a lawsuit against me for
providing abortion care to a patient that requests it?��

I used to think that I would be able to look to medical institutions who have built the foundation of my training on the oath to Do No Harm for direction during times like these. This has proven to be wrong as I watch the medical institution inch closer and closer to crossing the line of harm in some cases and outrightly leaping over it in others either through complacency, inaction, turning a blind eye or demurring to authoritarian demands.

As Abortion Provider Appreciation Day approached this year, I kept feeling frustrated because in an ideal world, it shouldn’t be courageous to do the right thing: to provide abortion care as part of the spectrum of support that I am able to give to my future patients. But that world doesn’t yet exist. However, there are individuals and coalitions that not only understand the impetus to Do No Harm but also act in accordance with their beliefs. They understand that the ever changing chimera of legality is often a tool of racism, sexism and eugenics. I have long since turned my gaze from the institution to these groups of people who embody the values that I set out to uphold as a young physician.����

I recently watched , a documentary about an underground group of women that provided thousands of safe abortions in Chicago during the 1970s and something that one of the former Jane members said has remained with me:��

“We did this not just because of the need, but a philosophical obligation to
disrespect a law that disrespected women.”��

Sometimes, courage looks like a group of individuals answering a philosophical obligation and staring defiantly in the face of injustice masquerading itself as a respect for life.��

In reflecting on my friend’s questions, one of the enduring emotions during my turmoil has been hope.��

I draw my courage from the people who have come before me and faced the same things
and insisted on justice nonetheless.��

I have the path that they have paved and I will use it as my guide.

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Created by AMSA Repro Project for your puzzling fun!
We share this puzzle as part of our week of honoring and recognition of Abortion Provider Appreciation Day 2025

Visit����and��On Call��to explore and share more throughout this week

Find the words below in the gird above, words can be horizontal, vertical, backward or diagonal

Have fun puzzling & please share with your friends!

Download Puzzle

Download Answer Sheet

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for AMSA Repro Project Updates

The post Celebrating Abortion Care Providers Who Do It with Love – Puzzling Fun with AMSA Repro! appeared first on AMSA.

SPOTLIGHT ON ABORTION CARE & REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE��

Why Can’t it Just be Okay – A Poem about Abortion Care

Written by Aliye Runyan, MD and published originally within
– a collection of poems curated by the Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters (SRHM)*
Dr. Runyan now serves as the AMSA Reproductive Health Project Consultant

We share this poem as part of our week of honoring and recognition of Abortion Provider Appreciation Day 2025

Art and Medicine = a Powerful Combination

Visit and On Call to explore and share more throughout this week

*SRHM journal is a peer-reviewed, international, open access journal that explores emerging, neglected and marginalized issues across the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Submit a paper for Open Issue 2025 – ��

More to Explore & Share from SRHM

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The post Why Can’t it Just be Okay – A Poem about Abortion Care appeared first on AMSA.

SPOTLIGHT ON ABORTION CARE & REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE��

Today and Every Day, We Celebrate Abortion Providers

Written by Jeff Koetje, MD, AMSA Reproductive Health Programming Strategist

Today, March 10, marks Abortion Provider Appreciation Day (APAD), a day dedicated to recognizing the courage and commitment of healthcare providers who offer abortion care, and celebrating the folks who ensure that those who need abortions can get them. Especially since the Dobbs decision in 2022, abortion care providers have increasingly faced threats, intimidation, violence, and legal repercussions for providing an essential healthcare service. Today, we honor their work, acknowledge the challenges they face, and shower them with gratitude, appreciation, and love.��

On this day, each year, we pay homage to Dr. David Gunn and countless other abortion providers who have devoted their lives to abortion care, and who, in some cases, have lost their own lives to the violence of the anti-abortion movement. – he was the first provider to be killed solely for his work as an abortion provider.

Beginning in 1996, as a way to honor Dr. Gunn’s life and work,
and to honor all of the courageous, compassionate people who provide abortion care,
March 10 became the .

Dr. Gunn’s compassionate and empathetic care brought in patients from near and far to him. Through his work, he provided life-affirming and life-saving care to those who needed an abortion.

Abortion Provider Appreciation Day is a day – as good as any – for those of us who work on the AMSA Reproductive Health Project to reflect on the meaning of our work, in relation to the work of those whom we honor and lift up today. The AMSA Reproductive Health Project has a primary purpose of enriching the abortion provider training pathway by supporting and nurturing future physicians who will provide abortion care as part of their clinical practice. Additionally, we engage with any and all future physicians who are interested in learning how to more effectively use their social, professional, and political power to advocate for reproductive health and rights, in alignment with the framework(s) of the Reproductive Justice Movement. While our project is, at the highest level, a project of undergraduate medical education and training about abortion care and family planning, it is also, at its core, a project that seeks to make a meaningful contribution to the projects of reproductive freedom, reproductive justice, and collective liberation.��

The AMSA Repro Project is celebrating APAD 2025 in several ways, and we are kicking things off with a series of social media posts each day this week, with messages of love and affirmation for our abortion care colleagues here in the US and everywhere in the world. We’ll also be featuring short video segments of conversations that Araam Abboud, AMSA Repro Project Intern, had with abortion providers with whom the AMSA Repro Project works closely, including our beloved Dr. Aliye Runyan and Dr. Kristyn Brandi. Check out these daily posts .

Throughout this week and well beyond this week, we are taking action against abortion stigma. Unfounded stigma perpetuated around abortion care hovers over patients and providers alike -– together we can break down these stigma, recognize the harms they cause, and make change in our institutions, practices and communities. To that end we are pleased to announce and invite you to participate in our first AMSA Repro Spring Friend-Raiser!��

Throughout March and April special opportunities and resources designed to help break down abortion care stigma will be shared via our Repro eNews, Spotlights in AMSA On Call, and local gatherings with AMSA Chapters, members and like-minded colleagues. Prizes and special funding to support gatherings will be awarded to participating AMSA members.��

Here are 2 opportunities to get things rolling!

1. Invite your friends and classmates to sign-up for our AMSA Repro eNews: the first 20 AMSA members who get 5 friends to sign-up and put YOUR NAME in the “How did you learn about AMSA Repro eNews” box will win the AMSA T-shirt or mug of their choice.
2. Organize a Watch Party with your friends or classmates of the new award-winning documentary film . This film reveals the dire impact of losing access to healthcare—and the extraordinary efforts of the women and men fighting on the frontline to regain those rights. Help to organize watch parties, including limited funding for food and beverages, are available through the AMSA Repro Project. The film is available for viewing in the U.S and Canada at no cost until April 28 – watch the preview .

Find info and sign-up to organize a Watch Party sign-up here.

Stay Tuned, more tools and resources to break down abortion care stigma to come!

The AMSA Repro Project honors, celebrates, and loves abortion providers; and we honor, celebrate, and love future abortion providers and those just getting started in their practice of care. We know that this is an incredibly challenging (and exhausting) moment, and we know that the stakes are so high. The way you show up for people needing abortion care inspires us to show up for the work necessary to ensure that there will always be a well-trained professional available for every person who needs an abortion,�� no matter when, no matter where, no matter why. Today, and every day, we appreciate, honor, and love every abortion provider!

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��Explore the AMSA Reproductive Health Project
Find news, tips, tools, opportunities�� & more!

for AMSA Repro Project Updates

The post Today and Every Day, We Celebrate Abortion Providers appeared first on AMSA.