Name: Libi
Social Justice Group: Abortion Rights and Access
Date of Fieldwork: January 26, 2022
Name of Organization and person (people) with whom you met and their title(s):Diane Macias, Manager of Patient Navigation at PPFA
Type of Fieldwork: Interview
What I did and what I learned about my topic, activism, social justice work or civil and human rights work from this fieldwork?[:: :
On January 26th, our group had the pleasure of interviewing Diane Macias, the manager of patient navigation at the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. She has worked in and around Planned Parenthood for 11 years, and really enjoys her job.
Being a mother at the early age of 17, Diane really learned the importance of sex education in school. She lives in Florida and worked at several Planned Parenthood Health Centers in the past. It is interesting to try to understand how her personal life led her to go down this professional path.
We learned about what Planned Parenthood will do if Roe v. Wade reverses, we learned more about medical abortions, we learned more about unsafe “DIY abortions”.We also learned that Planned Parenthood provides more than just medical support and abortions. They send staff to go fight against anti-abortions laws, fighting big bills, making phone calls to legislators, doing anything to uphold the steady access to abortions. Locally, stately and federally.
For me, a relevant aspect of this interview was Diane’s description of the relationship between socioeconomic disparities and accessibility to abortion clinics. For example, people that are discriminated against may have a hard time to find clinics that will take them. Additionally, abortion laws are targeted toward minorities. For example, you have to wait 72 hours from the first appointment until the actual operation, so if a person lives far from the clinic, they would have to drive back and fourth to the clinic and it may be hard and complicated for them. So in the decision to have an abortion, such conditions may trigger different feelings, and it may be harder for the person to move forward with it.
Diane also noted that to help people make the right decisions for themselves, it is important to reduce the stigma associated with abortion. To do that, there are a few things we could do: educate ourselves and others and/or get involved with organizations such as NYC PPFA centers. She said that PPFA has some virtual volunteering opportunities that we could do.
Overall I am so grateful for such people and organizations who are willing to fight for what they believe is right. it was super informative and interesting, and we had a great time interviewing Diane!
