REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH EQUITY ACT

On Aug 15. 2017, Governor Kate Brown signed the nation’s most progressive reproductive health policy into law. The Reproductive Health Equity Act is the first legislation in the United States to comprehensively address systemic barriers to accessing reproductive health care, expanding coverage to thousands of Oregonians – regardless of income, citizenship status or gender identity – throughout the state.

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Developed by the Pro-Choice Coalition of Oregon with input from community leaders and legislative champions, the new law makes Oregon the first state to establish comprehensive, state-funded reproductive health coverage for women categorically excluded from Medicaid based on citizenship status; the first to codify no-cost abortion coverage in state statute; and the first to stand up to the Trump administration and congressional Republicans by putting the entire list of HRSA recommended women’s health services covered without cost-sharing under the Affordable Care Act into state statute. The legislation also bans discrimination against those who identify as transgender or gender-nonconforming so that all people who can become pregnant have access to reproductive health care.