Upstream congratulates President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris on their victory.
Upstream works to reduce unplanned pregnancy in America by removing barriers to contraception and making access more equitable. We look forward to the possibilities to come with the new Biden administration — and the first female Vice President-elect in our nation’s history — to further improve autonomy and comprehensive contraceptive care for all. But the results of the election don’t change the urgent need of our mission to support patients’ ability to access best-in-class contraceptive care. We remain steadfast in our drive to expand patient choice and ensure that all people have the ability to determine if and when they become pregnant.
We’ve seen tremendous results to date from our work to create change. By integrating primary care and reproductive health to ensure access to the full range of birth control in a single visit, we are helping to create systemic change that’s built to last.
We also know that we can’t do it alone, and the pandemic has created even more need. A recent survey found that over 40% of women have changed their plans about having children in the coming year due to COVID-19, including roughly one-third who want to delay childbearing or have fewer children.
While Upstream has already made meaningful progress, creating nationwide impact will require the participation of all of us — in large hospital systems and rural clinics; from the range of clinical care providers to front desk staff and medical assistants; from the White House to statehouses across the United States; and most importantly, patients themselves. In addition to expanding our sustainable model to other parts of the country, we will continue to explore new and innovative ways to strengthen and protect people’s access to evidence-based, patient-centered contraceptive care.
Our work today is more important than ever, and we look forward to working with our partners across the country to increase access to birth control for all.
