Advocates for Youth applauds today’s reintroduction of the Health Equity and Access under the Law (HEAL) for Immigrant Families Act of 2023, a bill that seeks to help bridge access to health care for our most impacted communities.

Advocates for Youth applauds the work of youth activists and a coalition of organizations who have worked for years to demonstrate the scientific support and the urgent need for an OTC birth control pill. The FDA’s decision to make Opill available over the counter comes at a time of unprecedented attacks on young people’s health and rights at the federal level and in states across the country.  The science is clear, and the need has never been greater. 

Iowa’s abortion ban is harmful, cruel, and against the wishes of Iowans, a large majority of whom believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

Advocates for Youth is deeply proud to work with a network of young people across the country, including in Iowa, who are working to ensure everyone has access to the abortion care they need when they need it. Lawmakers working to force through harmful bans and restrictions are severely out of touch with the millions of young people who support abortion access, who have watched as bans stripped pregnant people of their autonomy and endangered their health and lives.

Advocates for Youth condemns the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision ruling in 303 Creative v. Elenis that businesses discriminating against LGBTQ+ people are protected through the free speech clause of the First Amendment. Plainly, the Court ruled in favor of a Christian web designer who refuses to create websites that celebrate same-sex weddings.

Advocates for Youth is deeply disappointed in the devastating outcome of these cases. Affirmative action programs have significantly helped Black, Indigenous, and Latinx youth, who have historically been excluded from colleges and universities, access higher education. This decision is just another blatant attempt by those with power and privilege to do whatever they can to hold on to that power. It undermines efforts to remedy systemic racism in public education and to create diverse and inclusive campuses.

While we are disturbed and disheartened by the recent open-letter “Navigating Differences” published on May 23, 2023, we are incredibly proud of the community response to it; numerous publications, organizations and individuals have been rallying against the sexist, queerphobic ideology preached in the original publication, as well as the declaration of the authors and signatories that they are the sole authority on what “Islam” says, supports or stands for.