Print Share

Position on Reproductive Rights

The American Association of University Women (AAUW) supports the right of every woman to safe, accessible, affordable, and comprehensive family planning and reproductive health services. This position stems from AAUW’s 2011-2013 Public Policy Program, which advocates, “choice in the determination of one’s reproductive life … increased access to health care and family planning services including expansion of patients’ rights,” as well as “supports international family planning programs.”1 Family planning fosters self-sufficiency, promotes preventive health care, and educates people on ways to protect themselves and their families from the spread of sexually transmitted infections. AAUW trusts that every woman has the ability to make her own informed choices regarding her reproductive life within the dictates of her own moral and religious beliefs. Further, AAUW believes that these deeply personal decisions should be made without governmental interference. AAUW members have made the protection of reproductive rights a policy principle since 1977.

The lack of comprehensive support for reproductive health has resulted in dire outcomes for American women. Half of all pregnancies in the United States are unintended.2 Of three million unintended pregnancies annually, four in ten of those end in abortion.3 The United States continues to have one of the highest rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the industrialized world,4 and, although teen birth rates have recently declined, the birth rate of girls ages 15 to 19 was 39.1 births per 1,000 in 2009, one of the highest rates in the industrialized world.1

There are a number of legislative proposals that would ensure women can seek and receive the care they need. AAUW looks forward to work with members of Congress on the following initiatives:

  • Improve   Public Funding for Reproductive Health.
  • Put   Prevention First.
  • Invest in Comprehensive Sex Education.
  • Support   International Family Planning.
  • Expand   prescription drug coverage.   
  • Affirm access to emergency contraception.
  • Ensure access to legally   prescribed or available contraception and emergency contraception.

AAUW believes that improved pregnancy prevention programs, new technologies, and access to complete reproductive health services enhance women’s reproductive choices, which leads to improvements in women’s health care in the United States and around the world. The Obama administration and pro-choice members of Congress have produced important gains for reproductive health and freedom, but many challenges remain. AAUW’s advocacy of a woman's right to safe, accessible, and comprehensive reproductive health care will remain an integral part of its efforts to gain equity and justice for all women.

For more information, call 202/785-7793 or e-mail VoterEd@aauw.org.


1 American Association of University Women. (June 2011). 2011-13 AAUW Public Policy Program. Retrieved August 16, 2011, from www.aauw.org/act/issue_advocacy/principles_priorities.cfm.

1 Brookings Institution. (June 2011). Unintended Pregnancy and Taxpayer Spending. Retrieved May 20, 2011, from www.guttmacher.org/pubs/psrh/full/4308811.pdf.

3 The Guttmacher Institute. (January 2011). Facts on Induced Abortion in the United States. Retrieved February 4, 2011, from www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html.

4 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women’s Health. (November 2009). Sexually Transmitted Infections: Overview. Retrieved February 7, 2011, from www.womenshealth.gov/faq/sexually-transmitted-infections.pdf.

5 Washington Post. (December 21, 2010). Teen Birthrate Hits Record Low. Retrieved February 4, 2011, from www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/21/AR2010122105780.html.