Establishing RJ Commissions in Maryland

NIRH believes that the people impacted by economic and racial disparities are in the best position to identify solutions to these barriers. We’re working with Reproductive Justice Inside (RJ Inside), an organization that works with and for systems-involved individuals to improve their access to quality sexual and reproductive healthcare.

Together, NIRH and RJ Inside are developing two new reproductive justice-focused task forces in Baltimore City and Montgomery County – both based on the Atlanta RJ Commission model that NIRH helped to establish in 2019. The task forces will be staffed by community-based activists, direct service providers, policy advocates, and individuals with lived experiences with the topics pursued by the task forces, that could include work to address deceptive anti-abortion pregnancy centers, expand sexual and reproductive healthcare for youth, encourage the passage and implementation of city- and county-specific versions of the Maryland Contraceptive Equity Act, and other areas that are currently overlooked by local governments.