In the face of legislative interference with medical practice, obstetrician-gynecologist (OB/GYN) physicians and professional societies play a critical role in ensuring implementation of evidence-based family planning policies and challenging dangerous bills and state laws. At the individual level such advocacy takes many forms, including legislative testimony, service as a plaintiff or expert witness in a legal challenge, expertise to policy makers, media engagement, and institutional advocacy to expand training and service provision. At the organizational level, professional societies inform family planning policy by issuing position statements supporting family planning and abortion care, participating in amicus briefs in lawsuits, and supporting the advocacy and policy engagement of their members.
Educating and engaging the next generation of physician advocates and ensuring that OB/GYNs understand the implications of family planning policies on their training, future practice, and patients’ lives, is an important aspect of OB/GYN education. This flipped classroom course will engage and equip OB/GYNs with effective strategies for countering medically unfounded government mandates and advancing policies that improve access to comprehensive family planning and abortion care in a high-stakes and increasingly polarized environment. Its focus is educating and empowering OB/GYN learners to be effective family planning advocates, but it is relevant to physicians at all levels of practice.