Our Fight to Defend Abortion Access and Protect Reproductive Freedom
CTP’s Reproductive Freedom Taskforce (RFT) is a collaboration among abortion providers, health care providers, attorneys, and elected officials promoting strategies to ensure freedom in reproductive care and accountability for those that seek to undermine reproductive health care.
The Taskforce will pursue strategies in educating the public in the media, producing content for public consumption, and ensuring reproductive care is protected from anti-abortion idealogues weaponizing this medical issue for political gain.
CTP's Reproductive Freedom Task Force
Dr. Maya Bass, MD, MA, FAAFP – Co-chair
Dr. Maya Bass is a board-certified Family physician. She graduated from Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University and completed her master’s degree in Biology at Wesleyan College. She completed her residency at Family and Community Medicine – Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and her fellowship at Physicians for Reproductive Health in Washington, DC. She has a focus on caring for underserved populations, reproductive health, wellness, and residency education.
Dr. Bhavik Kumar, MD, MPH – Co-chair
Dr Kumar (he/him) is a board-certified family medicine physician and Medical Director for Primary and Trans Care at Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, in Houston, Texas. He has also been an abortion provider in his home state of Texas since 2015. He completed medical school at Texas Tech University HSC, residency training at Montefiore Medical Center, and a Fellowship in Family Planning at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, in the Bronx, NY. Bhavik is an outspoken advocate for abortion and trans care access in the media and in the courts.
Dr. Kristin Lyerly, MD, MPH, FACOG
Dr. Kristin Lyerly is a specialist in general obstetrics and gynecology in Northeastern Wisconsin, where she is also a candidate for U.S. Congress (WI-08). She completed medical school and residency at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. She also received her Master of Public Health degree from the UW, focusing on African American infant mortality in southeastern Wisconsin. She is deeply committed to both her clinical work and advocacy, ensuring that providers of obstetrical and gynecological services have the training and resources they need to ensure excellent outcomes for people across the State and beyond.
Dr. Anita Somani, MD
Dr. Anita Somani is an ObGyn in Columbus, Oh. Dr. Somani is the co-chair of the Physicians Action Network Board and the state director for South Asians for America. She is the past president of the Columbus Medical Association. Dr. Somani has been advocating for women since 2011 when the first anti-abortion bills were being debated in Ohio. She is currently the Executive in Residence at Franklin University’s Global Center for Healthcare Education.
She was honored to receive the 2021 Central Ohio Social Justice Award for Healthcare.
Dr. Didi Saint Louis, MD, MPH
Dr. Didi consults women on personal health and in various stages of mothering. She created Healthy Mommy, Happy Baby so moms of color would have access to credible information addressing the issues unique to them. Dr. Didi earned her medical degree from the University of Miami, then completed her surgical internship at the University of Missouri and her Obstetrics and Gynecology residency at New York Medical College/St. Vincent Catholic Medical Center. After residency, Dr. Didi served as an assistant professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and earned a Master’s of Public Health in Maternal and Child Health.
Dr. Cecilia Grande, MD
Dr. Cecilia Grande specializes in Obstetrics and Gynecology. She graduated from the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine in San Juan and completed her residency at University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Dr. Melissa Bayne, DO
Dr. Melissa Bayne specializes in Obstetrics and Gynecology. She graduated from Midwestern University and completed her internship and residency at SCS/MSUCOM/Metro Health – University of Michigan (GME). Dr. Bayne’s focus is on improving access, quality, safety, and equity for reproductive and maternity care in rural America.
Dr. Ealena Callender, MD, MA
Dr. Ealena Callender is a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist. Prior to her medical career, Dr. Callender was a journalist and continues to use the media to help raise awareness of important women’s health issues. Dr. Callender completed her master’s degree at George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health in 2022, and she strives to continue making an impact on improving women’s health on a national and international scale.
Dr. Chelsea Daniels, MD
Dr. Chelsea Daniels is a board-certified Family Physician who specializes in family planning and reproductive healthcare. She is a Staff Physician at Planned Parenthood of South, East and North Florida, a travel abortion provider at Whole Woman’s Health, and a gender-affirming care provider at FOLX Health. Passionate about increasing reproductive rights and access, she currently serves as a Cluster Leader for the Florida Cluster of the Reproductive Health Access Project, is a Fellow of the Physicians for Reproductive Health, and works on the Florida AAFP’s Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee.
Dr. Chris Ford, MD FACEP
Dr. Ford is an emergency medicine attending physician, with experience practicing in rural and urban settings.
He completed a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of South Carolina-Columbia and obtained his medical degree at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Dr. Ford served as chief resident during his final year in the University of Wisconsin Emergency Medicine Residency Program. After graduating, he pursued a fellowship in pediatric emergency medicine with HealthPartners Children’s Minnesota.
Dr. Ford eventually returned to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he joined Infinity HealthCare as an attending physician and Education Director. He is currently a practicing emergency medicine physician and Director of Public Relations for Emergency Medicine Specialists, S.C. in Milwaukee, as well as Advisory Committee Member for Wisconsin Emergency Medical Services for Children (WEMSC), which aims to expand the capacity and improve the quality of pediatric emergency care, both before and after a child arrives at the hospital.
Dr. Ford is a strong advocate for his patients and the citizens of Wisconsin. As the chairperson of the People’s Maps Commission, at the invitation by Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, Dr. Ford helped to develop fair and equitable district maps for the state of Wisconsin, presenting their findings to the state legislature. He is engaged with numerous community organizations in the Milwaukee area, including the AARP sponsored Walk With a Docprogram, and he co-founded the Dyslexic Medical Professionals Group.
Dr. Lauren Beene, MD
Lauren Beene, MD is a general pediatrician practicing in Cleveland, Ohio. She is co-founder and Executive Director of Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights (OPRR), a non-partisan grassroots organization that formed immediately following the Dobb’s decision. OPRR and its broad coalition, Protect Choice Ohio, was at the forefront of the successful movement to protect reproductive freedom via citizen initiated constitutional amendment in Ohio in 2023. Dr. Beene attended college at Cornell University, Medical School at Case Western Reserve University, and pediatrics residency at Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, where she served as Chief Resident. She lives in Cleveland with her husband and 2 young daughters. Dr. Beene is committed to ensuring that each of her patients receives unobstructed access to the highest standard of medical care, and will fight for their right to do so.
Dr. Jennifer Smith, MD
Dr. Jennifer Smith joined Consultants in Women’s Healthcare in 2003 after completing residency at Washington University School of Medicine/Barnes -Jewish Hospital. A graduate of UCLA, she moved to St. Louis to attend medical school at Washington University in 1995, and has been in St. Louis ever since. She has been a fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists since 2006 and has served on the board of the St. Louis Maternity Hospital Society.
Rated as a Top Doc in St. Louis magazine since 2005, Dr. Smith is passionate about her patients. She strives to develop a personal relationship with each woman in order to individualize care. She has particular interests in the management of abnormal uterine bleeding, polyps and fibroids, as well as menopause. A skilled surgeon, Dr. Smith enjoys laparoscopic surgery as well as other minimally invasive surgical techniques. Guiding patients through pregnancy is a particular passion. Dr. Smith knows that while every family is nervous in the anticipation of a healthy child, each patient is different in her needs and expectations. She works hard to provide a pregnancy, labor and delivery experience that matches her patients’ expectations while maintaining excellent care.
Dr. Misha Pangasa, MD
Dr. Misha Pangasa is a board certified OBGYN and Complex Family Planning subspecialist who is committed to providing comprehensive reproductive health care to her patients. Born and raised in Yuma, AZ, Dr. Pangasa completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Arizona and her medical degree at Weill Cornell Medical College. She completed an OBGYN internship at Metropolitan Hospital in New York City and residency training at the University of Pittsburgh. Subsequently, she moved to Boston, MA to provide general OBGYN care at Massachusetts General Hospital and medical education as faculty for Harvard Medical School. The diversity of practices she witnessed in reproductive care, based on geographic and institutional abortion care restrictions, prompted her to pursue fellowship training in Complex Family Planning, a subspecialty centered around complex contraceptive and abortion care, at the University of Utah. After completion of her fellowship, Dr. Pangasa was thrilled to move back to her home state of Arizona, where she remains committed to providing comprehensive evidence-based, patient centered, non-judgmental reproductive health care, particularly for vulnerable populations.
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