Committee Chair

Oscar Taube, MD, FAAP

Mission Statement

The mission of the Committee on Adolescent Health, Maryland Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics is to enhance the physical, developmental and psychosocial growth of Maryland’s adolescents and to optimize the ability of Maryland’s Pediatricians to provide outstanding clinical care to these adolescents. We seek to accomplish this goal through Education and Advocacy.

Our Educational mission is to:

promote evidence-based adolescent medicine practices to optimize the clinical care of Maryland teenagers;

share information and activities across a variety of platforms to coordinate efforts, harmonize messages and priorities with other similar organizations.

Our Advocacy mission is to:

monitor- at the local, state, interstate and national level- legislative, executive and judicial policies that affect the health and welfare of adolescents;

provide testimony (via direct testimony, outreach to media, etc.) that supports policies that advance adolescent health and opposes policies that present a risk to adolescent health.

reach out to adolescents/families in neighboring states that may have policies that present a risk to adolescent health, and to offer them care in our state.

Vision

To optimize the provision of Adolescent Health Care, including a commitment to the principles of Adolescent Reproductive Justice.

Resources

• 5 State/D.C. Pediatric Post-Roe Reproductive Health Coalition:
  The Coalition was formed in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe V Wade. The Coalition recognizes that the “Post-Roe world” is going to feature a lot of interstate travel by patients seeking adolescent reproductive health care, and a key aim of the Coalition is to improve interstate coordination. The Coalition includes the following regions: Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. Key functions of the Coalition include: a. Helping each other with testimony for (or against) state legislation involving abortion and other reproductive health issues; b. Assisting with Federal testimony on issues impacting Adolescent Reproductive Health; c. Dissemination of information to pediatricians in our Coalition on optimal reproductive health care practices-including abortion-for teens and their families; d. Optimizing the referral process, in our states, for abortion procedures. The Coalition meets (virtually) several times per year, membership is free. For more information, please contact Dr. Taube: otaube100@gmail.com 
• Chesapeake Chapter, Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine
• AAP Policy Statements on Adolescent Health and Welfare