In 1970, the Women’s Caucus was founded and became the second APHA-affiliated Caucus at a time when APHA did not yet have any other entities devoted to matters of reproductive justice. Pre-Roe v. Wade, the Women’s Caucus was a safe place for women to fight for and discuss issues of bodily integrity and gender equity. As the APHA Committee on Women's Rights and Sections (e.g., Medical Care and Sexual and Reproductive Health) evolved to take on reproductive rights issues, the Women’s Caucus maintained its space as a forum for uninhibited discussion of emerging, often not considered, and/or important issues affecting the lives and health of women. 

This work intersects with the work to advance health equity as we are dedicated to examining women’s lives through the contextualized experiences of women, considering the intersection of cultural, social, political, economic, cultural, spiritual, sexual, gender-based, and environmental forces. Indeed, some of today’s most salient issues of trade, violence, race, and immigration are, at their core, women’s issues. The escalating federal and state-based attacks to reproductive rights, research, and equity make our formative work just as relevant today and is was more than 50 years ago.

To this end, we will continue to serve as a platform for researchers who focus on poor health outcomes in vulnerable populations, including women; collaborate to emboldened early-career women’s health specialists; focus on current, often overlooked women’s health issues; and advocate for the adoption and implementation of gender-based health equity policies.