Special Interest Groups
Pregnancy Center Medical Directors SIG
This group – Pregnancy Center Medical Directors (PCMD) will provide a collaborative network that will connect, encourage, and equip AAPLOG members who serve or desire to serve as medical directors in pregnancy centers.
The group aims to encourage collaboration, share knowledge, and promote innovative practices that provide excellent health care in pregnancy center medical clinics.
Objectives
The SIG-PCMD, shall pursue the following objectives:
- Facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration among physicians and other allied health professionals who serve or wish to serve as medical directors in pregnancy centers.
o Provide networking opportunities for members to collaborate on topics related to pregnancy center medical clinics.
o Provide networking opportunities for members to connect with pregnancy center executive directors.
- Provide trusted health care for women and their pre-born children when faced with an unplanned pregnancy.
o Organize educational programs in order to encourage and equip physicians and other allied health professionals to develop expertise in providing health care in a pregnancy center setting.
o Advocate for innovative models of employment of medical directors in pregnancy centers who serve patients with unplanned pregnancies and their families.
Eligibility
Membership in the SIG-PCMD is open to all AAPLOG dues paying members who express interest in serving as a medical director in a pregnancy center.
This group is led by Dr. Susan Bane, OB/GYN, AAPLOG Action board Chair and AAPLOG board Vice Chair. The group plans to meet monthly starting in January 2026.
Compassion in Action Collective SIG
This group will foster a community of medical professionals interested in and committed to extending compassion to the most vulnerable populations—those who are marginalized, disenfranchised, or economically disadvantaged. Recognizing that these communities are at increased risk of abortion due to social, financial, and systemic pressures, the Collective seeks to advance life-affirming care, provide practical support, educate and advocate for ethical medical practices that protect both mothers and their unborn children.
A few years ago, a subsection, Medical Professionals of Color, was envisioned to highlight the role of ethnically diverse health care professionals in this mission. While diversity remains an important value, after discussing this concern with members and review of the evidence, the most pressing need is not demographic representation alone, but the mobilization of like-minded health care professionals who share a unified commitment to serving and protecting vulnerable populations at greatest risk of abortion.
Recent evidence clearly shows that vulnerable populations—especially low-income individuals, racial and ethnic minorities, unmarried women, and those without college education—disproportionately suffer under abortion restrictions and access barriers. For example, recent studies estimate thousands of additional births and hundreds of extra infant deaths in states that enacted abortion bans, with the largest adverse effects in communities already facing poor maternal and child health outcomes. (<Johns Hopkins/Bloomberg, 2025>)
These same groups also face higher risk of adverse birth outcomes (e.g. preterm birth, low birth weight), intimate partner violence, and diminished access to non-abortion reproductive care in the aftermath of Roe’s overturn. (<BMC Health Services Research, 2021; Univ. of Chicago, 2024; Frontiers in Public Health, 2024>)
By fostering collaboration, education, and outreach, the Compassion in Action Collective will serve as a catalyst for innovative strategies and sustainable solutions to reduce abortion vulnerability and ensure that the dignity of every life is upheld.
Additionally, the group aims to promote knowledge sharing, ethical guidelines, and innovative practices to enhance patient care and involvement of medical professionals.
Objectives
- Address Root Causes of Abortion Vulnerability: Identify and respond to systemic barriers such as poverty, limited access to care, and lack of community support that disproportionately affect marginalized, vulnerable populations.
- Equip and Empower for Life-Affirming Care: Encourage, mentor, and equip health care professionals to provide compassionate, life-affirming medical care and support services as they extend hope and dignity to vulnerable populations.
- Provide Education and Training: Develop and disseminate resources, workshops, and continuing education for health care providers on best practices in delivering compassionate, life-affirming, patient-centered care in vulnerable populations.
- Foster Collaboration and Community Partnerships: Build a strong network of health care professionals and community organizations to share strategies, extend medical expertise, and provide tangible support that protects vulnerable women and families from abortion.
Eligibility