As the independent voice for public health, you can count on AzPHA to support reproductive freedom, even as the state health department senior leadership takes a hands-off or even hostile view of reproductive freedom (for at least the next 166 days)
Many of AzPHA’s public health priorities are driven by Resolutions that are approved by our members. AzPHA has dozens of Resolutions in place dating back to the 1930s. They are all available on our Resolutions Website.
Early resolutions focused on the importance of food safety regulations, tuberculosis control, family planning, and other contemporary public health issues. More recent Resolutions have focused on support for addressing the Opioid epidemic, certifying community health workers, and addressing electronic cigarettes. Our Resolutions are important to us because they set our public health advocacy priorities.
AzPHA Resolutions stay in place until and unless the Members vote to remove or update a Resolution. There is a process for developing new Resolutions. Resolutions are developed by AzPHA Members and are sent to the Board for review.
The Board reviews the Resolution and votes whether to send the Resolution to the Members for approval. Proposed Resolutions can be voted on electronically before the Annual Meeting or they can be voted on in-person at the Annual Meeting. After approval of the resolutions, final copies are posted on the members only part of our website.
AzPHA has a long history of supporting access to reproductive health services including contraception, abortion and comprehensive maternal and child health supports, from 1971 resolutions about family planning and many others.
Below are our existing resolutions related to the SCOTUS decision in Dobbs and AG Brnovich’s efforts to enforce Arizona’s territorial-era law outlawing all abortions except when the mother’s life is at risk.
- 1971 Resolution In Support of Family Planning
- 1971 Resolution in Support of Family Planning (Part 2)
- 1977 Resolution Supporting Public Funds for Abortion Services
- 1981 Resolution Supporting Comprehensive MCH Services
- 1987 Resolution – Title X
- 2005 Resolution Supporting Adolescent Access to Comprehensive Confidential Healthcare
- 2018 Resolution Expressing Continuing Support of Title X Family Planning
- 2018 Resolution Supporting Universal Access to Contraceptive Services
The AzPHA Board of Directors is reviewing these historic resolutions to figure out whether we should update the resolutions or whether they’re sufficient to support our advocacy for access to comprehensive reproductive health services.