Advocacy Activities

June

• SAHM has joined a coalition of leading medical societies in signing a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in response to recent, conflicting announcements regarding the COVID-19 vaccine schedule. 

May

• SAHM joined an AAP-led coalition in submitting comments opposing a recently issued Interim Final Rule (IFR) that rescinds a prior Biden Administration policy. The original policy had prohibited the sharing of information between the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regarding the immigration status of potential sponsors for unaccompanied children.
  
  
• SAHM joined a coalition led by the AAP and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) in sending a letter to the Secretary of Health and Human Services opposing the Administration’s plans to study a purported link between vaccines and autism. The letter emphasized that such a study would be a misuse of taxpayer resources and outlined the established scientific principles and processes that should guide any rigorous scientific inquiry on the topic.

April

• SAHM joined the American Academy of Pediatrics in submitting a comment letter to the Department of Homeland Security opposing an interim final rule that would require undocumented immigrants to register with the U.S. government or face criminal charges, detention, or deportation.

• SAHM joined a coalition sign-on letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) opposing a recently published proposed rule that would impose new restrictions on gender-affirming care (GAC) in certain health insurance plans.

• SAHM joined the Friends of HRSA Coalition on a letter to congressional appropriators urging them to include at least $10.5 billion for discretionary Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) programs in the FY 26 Labor-HHS appropriations bill.

• SAHM joined the CDC Coalition on a letter requesting $11.581 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the FY 26 Labor-HHS appropriations bill. 

• SAHM joined a coalition of children’s health organizations including First Focus on Children, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and others on a letter urging Congress to reject cuts to Medicaid and CHIP.

• SAHM joined a coalition led by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) on a sign-on letter in support of gun violence prevention research funding for FY 2026. This sign-on letter calls on Congress to provide $35 million for the CDC, $25 million for the NIH, and $1 million at the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) for critical gun violence prevention research.

• SAHM signed on to a letter created by an Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research to House and Senate appropriators urging at least $51.303 billion in NIH funding for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026, in addition to additional support for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), which would represent a $4.222 billion or 9% increase over FY 2025 funding levels.

• New SAHM Position Paper: Guidelines on the Inclusion and Protection of Adolescent Minors and Young Adults in Health Research – Guidelines that aim to assist researchers and research ethics committees/institutional review boards in the ethical conduct of health research with adolescents and young adults (AYA), particularly research with adolescent minors.

• New SAHM Position Paper (revision): Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

March

• SAHM joined a coalition led by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in support of a sign-on letter to the Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate HELP Committee asking for a robust public health response to the measles outbreak (and more), including the importance of a CDC Director that understands the great risk this outbreak poses.

February

• Signatories to Amici Briefs in opposition of care limitations, including PFLAG, Inc. v. Donald J. Trump (filed on February 13, 2025) and Washington v Trump (filed on February 28, 2025), both of which have resulted in limitations in the enforcement of the Executive Order issued on January 28, 2025.

• New SAHM Position Paper: Improving Adolescent and Young Adult Health Through Knowledge and Action on Gender-Based Violence – SAHM recognizes that GBV has been a long-standing threat, remains a public health crisis, and requires an urgent response to support the health and well-being of AYAs, especially cis and trans women and girls, worldwide.

January 

• New SAHM Position Paper: Promoting Food Security Among Adolescents and Young Adults – In this position paper, Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine (SAHM) recommends actions that healthcare professionals can take to achieve a goal of universal food security among AYAs.
• New SAHM Position Paper: Responding to the Impact of Climate Change on Adolescent and Young Adult Health – In partnership with the International Association for Adolescent Health (IAAH), this paper calls for urgent action in alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the Convention on the Rights of the Child to avert the irreversible consequences of climate change.