At the national level, the American Psychological Association (APA) has made a commitment to ensuring that psychologists are at the forefront of critical and complex social issues, including health equity and reproductive justice (APA, 2021a). The need for action is great and the recent call for action at APA’s 2021 council meeting is urgent. In October 2021, the APA published the APA Resolution on Advancing Health Equity in Psychology (APA, 2021b) and it highlighted strong takeaways for our psychological community:

Advancing health equity is central to APA’s strategic goal to utilize psychology to make a positive impact on critical societal issues, including the objective of employing psychology to improve population health, increase access to services, and reduce disparities, and the objective of fostering the advancement of human rights, fairness, diversity, and inclusion through the application of psychological science. (para. 22)

Aspirational goals for health equity are no longer sufficient. Health inequity is driving dire need and substantial physical and psychological suffering. Inequities are so great they warrant immediate transformative action. (para. 1)

This resolution adopted by the APA Council of Representatives is but one of several related actions, including a resolution that affirms APA’s long-standing commitment to reproductive rights (APA, 2021c).

Meanwhile, back in our home state, the Oregon Public Health Association (OPHA) has led the effort to declare racism as a public health crisis (OPHA, 2022). After 2 years of hard work, with the passage of HB40 (Oregon Legislature, 2022), we have come another step closer to a vision of equity where the lives of all Oregonians are rooted in the conditions that foster health, stability, and dignity (HB4052, 2022).

These developments underscore the fact that Oregon psychologists have roles to play in joining with other health professionals to develop and communicate advancements in achieving health equity and reproductive justice in our state and nationally. Whether you consider or decide to share supportive research on the topic, engage in research yourself, or advocate at the national and state level, we all can support health equity for our communities across Oregon.

This month APA will have a meeting to discuss possible actions at the state and national level to follow up on the Reproductive Rights resolution… watch for updates!

References

American Psychological Association. (2021a, June). Health equity. https://www.apa.org/pi/health-equity

American Psychological Association. (2021b, October). APA resolution on advancing health equity in psychology. https://www.apa.org/about/policy/advancing-health-equity-psychology#:~:text=Aspirational%20goals%20for%20health%20equity,key%20driver%20of%20health%20inequities

 American Psychological Association. (2021c, October). APA resolution affirming and building on APA’s history of support for reproductive rights. https://www.apa.org/about/policy/resolution-reproductive-rights.pdf

Oregon Legislature. (2022). Legislative summary report - HB 4052. https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/lpro/summleg/2022%20Legislative%20Summary%20Reports.pdf

Oregon Public Health Association. (2022).  Legislative updates: HB 4052 (2022b). Racism is a public health crisis. https://www.oregonpublichealth.org/legislative-updates#HB2337