Mishka Terplan (he/him)

Advisory Board Member

Mishka Terplan is a physician whose clinical, research, public health, and advocacy work focuses on the intersections of reproductive and behavioral health. He first learned about the family policing system from his patients by following them from clinic into court and has spent the last 15-20 years partnering with community-based organization and legal aid groups to stand for the human rights and human dignity of all parents, especially those that use drugs. Recently, his work has focused on naming and resisting the increasing carcerality of health care for birthing peoples though projects such as “Doing Right by Birth” - a self-directed learning video series designed to reduce the over-reporting of substance-exposed newborns. He is internationally recognized as an expert in the care of pregnant and parenting people who use drugs and has leveraged that position to speak and write broadly about the history and harms of the family policing system.