Name: Libi
Social Justice Group: Abortion Rights and Access
Date of Fieldwork: February 14, 2022
Name of Organization and person (people) with whom you met and their title(s):An Abortion Provider at a Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare Facility
Type of Fieldwork: Tour of Organization
What I did and what I learned about my topic, activism, social justice work or civil and human rights work from this fieldwork?[:: :
On Monday, February 14th, our group had the excellent opportunity of being able to tour a sexual and reproductive healthcare facility with an abortion provider. This tour was absolutely amazing, being extremely interesting and informative.
Instead of going in through the main entrance, our group went through the staff entrance. The abortion provider told us that there is a lot more security through the main entrance, but where we went we just had to write our names on a sign-in sheet. I found it very sad that in a place that provides men and women with not only abortions, but also other sexual and reproductive healthcare such security is needed. When we started our tour, we went directly to the second floor because the first floor was still being occupied by patients. The provider told us that the first floor was just a gynecology department and looked very much like a normal doctor’s office.
The second floor was very interesting because it taught us more about the actual procedure of the abortion. The abortion provider took us to the operating room and showed us around. We got to see the vacuum machine that the doctors use to actually perform the abortions. We saw the different sizes of tubes for different stages of pregnancy. Depending how far along a woman is in her pregnancy, the provider will use a different size of tube to suck out the pregnancy tissue in the womb. The room had an operating table where the patient would lay down in and put their feet in these holders to keep the legs spread so the provider can have a better access to the area.
Aside from the two abortion operating rooms, we also saw a room in which they performed vasectomies and pap-smears, which are HPV and other sexual disease tests. These rooms looked very similar to the other operating rooms.
After seeing all the operating rooms, we were taken to see the recovery room. There were a lot of chairs that looked like airplane seats, which had a heart rate monitor and an IV station. The abortion provider was very excited to show us the facility’s blanket heater. These blankets are provided to the women after the procedure to warm them and maybe also to give them a feeling of coziness and care. I found it touching and pretty cool. It made me want to get a blanket heater for my house. They also had a lot of graham crackers and saltines, in addition to water and lollipops, for recovering patients.
Overall, this was an absolutely incredible experience that I will not forget! We are so grateful to the abortion provider and the facility for having us and for helping people in need. We need more places like this!
