What To Expect With Reproductive Health Clinical Research in 2021
By: Margaret Gaw
Amidst this governmental transition, how will the Biden-Harris Administration address new clinical research and plan for reproductive health advancement in 2021?
On Day 1, Biden says he will push for immediate coronavirus legislation. The NIH Strategic Response to COVID-19 will conduct research about the most effective coronavirus response. Regarding the NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for COVID-19 Research, many organizations including the Society for Women’s Health Research have called for studies on the impact of COVID-19 on gender, sex, and reproductive health. A major concern has been the consequences of the pandemic on routine women’s health care, such as Pap smears, mammograms, STD testing, and vaccination. Furthermore, for pregnant and birthing people, more research will be needed on the impact of COVID-19 on access to optimal prenatal and postnatal care and the coronavirus vaccine.
In 2020, the NIH granted funding for many new clinical research projects to be conducted. Some of the studies include research related to mental health in lesbian and bisexual women, COVID-19 in pregnancy among minorities, and racial disparities in pregnancy-related complications and deaths.
The Endocrine Society recently crafted a letter to the transition team with recommendations for a new era of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) — human rights rooted in “human dignity, self-determination, and equality.” The UN Human Rights Council in November 2020 provided these recommendations during the United States’ 3rd Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and encourages the incoming Biden-Harris Administration to set measurable benchmarks for the implementation of these recommendations. The administration has a unique opportunity to accept these recommendations, re-ignite the United States in SRHR, and repair the devastating impact of the Trump administration on reproductive healthcare, especially on marginalized communities.
Recommendations directly from the Biden-Harris Transition Team report:
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1. Protect and promote access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare
• Improve, protect, and ensure equitable access to sexual and reproductive health rights, services, and information, with particular focus on people experiencing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination
• Rescind Title X regulations to ensure access to comprehensive family planning services for all
2. Remove global restrictions on sexual and reproductive health care
• End restrictions on U.S. foreign assistance to promote access to sexual and reproductive health and rights, including by repealing the Helms Amendment and rescinding the Global Gag Rule
(The Global Gag Rule prevents foreign nongovernmental organizations who receive U.S. funding from giving legal abortion services or referrals and prevents abortion law reform advocacy — then known as the Mexico City Policy, President Ronald Reagan first enacted this rule in 1984. The policy is repealed or enacted depending on the president and party in power which leaves NGO funding extremely vulnerable and individuals without access to safe reproductive care. The Trump administration expanded the Global Gag Rule to recipients of any U.S. global health funding as well as those funded by “gagged” NGOs, ultimately totaling $8.8 billion and negatively impacting a wide array of health services from HIV/AIDS to water and sanitation programming. Multiple studies have suggested the Global Gag Rule has not reduced abortion rates but has increased unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortion rates. This policy puts women (especially those living in poverty), NGOs, human rights movements, and advocacy groups in more vulnerable positions, and the Biden-Harris administration aims to re-instate funding for global reproductive services to address some of these issues.)
3. Advance universal maternal healthcare
4. Ensure that laws permitting refusals of care do not restrict sexual and reproductive health and rights
5. Improve healthcare access for migrants and guarantee human rights for migrants and people seeking asylum
• Improve access to basic services for migrants, seek alternatives to immigration detention, and improve conditions of confinement and detention for migrants and refugees to meet human rights standards.”
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https://orwh.od.nih.gov/about/newsroom/news
https://www.endocrine.org/advocacy/society-letters/2020/srhr-recommendation-from-3rd-us-upr
https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/explainers/what-global-gag-rule