Em-URGE-ing Voices

Youth Reproductive Rights & the COVID-19 Response

Access to comprehensive reproductive health care is critical for young people, especially during a public health emergency. Young people encounter persistent barriers to accessing the care and information they need to make decisions about pregnancy, parenting, abortion, and their sexual health.

UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 IN OHIO

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected nearly every facet of society, unveiling how current systems have and continue to fail communities in Ohio and across the country. Ohio’s elected officials like Governor Mike DeWine, Lieutenant Governor John Husted, Attorney General David Yost, and the Director of the Ohio Department of Health Dr. Amy Acton have been applauded for the state’s early response efforts. However, with the increase in testing and data collection and the unfortunate exploitation of COVID-19 by some politicians, it has become clear that many of Ohio’s most marginalized communities need more to be healthy and safe — now and long before this pandemic hit.

Congressional Asks to Support Young People During COVID-19

62 organizations and 771 young people call on Congress to pass further COVID-19 relief for young people immediately. Despite the important provisions and emergency funding included in the CARES Act, this legislation still falls short of what is needed to respond to this historic national crisis.

URGE and 65 Organizations Tell Congressional Leaders to Tackle Economic and Health Disparities in COVID-19 Legislation

During the COVID-19 health crisis, it is vital that we center communities who, historically, face the greatest health and economic disparities. URGE and 65 organizations have sent a letter to Congressional leaders asking that any current and future federal legislation, including any stimulus packages, center young people, queer, trans, and nonbinary communities, people of color, and people with disabilities. Within the letter are specific policy demands that would change the material conditions of these communities and enable them to better survive this pandemic and rebuild in its aftermath.

The State of Sex Education in Alabama 2020

Current requirements for sex education in Alabama are sex negative, homophobic, medically inaccurate, culturally incompetent, ineffective, and do not provide the kind of information young people want and need to live happy and healthy sexual lives.

The State of Sexual Health Education in Ohio 2020

The sexual health programming in Ohio’s public schools is not mandated to be medically accurate, age-appropriate, culturally competent, and is not prohibited from promoting religion or biased information.

Voting Rights in Ohio

Young people and historically marginalized communities have called for bold democracy reform and an expansion of voting rights in Ohio and across the country. In order to protect the integrity of elections and ensure broad civic participation by young people, rural communities, people with low-incomes, and Black, Native, Latinx, and other communities of color, we must dismantle barriers to the ballot box and harmful policies that disenfranchise our communities.