The Center convened the Strategic Action Convening: A Framework for Health Care Reform program in Washington, DC on June 12-14, 2009. Twelve U.S. state legislators from around the country came to Washington, DC for three day in June to focus on reproductive rights and justice - and also addressed the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on women and girls.

The women state legislative leaders took immediate action to bring their voices - and the needs of their constituents - to the Congressional debate on health care reform. Together, they crafted a brief but powerful letter to the Members of the Senate and House Committees that are writing the new legislation - to insist that Congress explicitly include all reproductive health care services among the "essential benefits" in any legislation they enact.

Click here to read the letter that is signed by more than 100 and former legislators who participate in the Center's Contract with Women of the USA® State Legislators Initiative. 

Delegate Bonnie Brown West Virginia Representative Maralyn Chase Washington State Representative Gilda Cobb-Hunter South Carolina Representative Patricia Dillon Connecticut Senator Karen Fraser Washington State Representative Laura Hall Alabama

Representative Deborah Heinrich Connecticut Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles Washington State Representative Marilyn Lee Hawaii Senator Linda Lopez Arizona Representative Elizabeth Ritter Connecticut Representative Nancy Todd Colorado