Esme

School Nurse Jenna DiMarino Shares Insight on the Abortion Contraversy.

by Esme

For our first Fieldwork, Esme and I met with Jenna DiMarino, our school nurse. Because she is a school nurse she knows a lot about abortion rights. We interviewed her about her opinions on abortion laws and women’s reproductive rights and health care. She said that women should have choice over their own bodies, and that the government deciding about abortions and reproductive health care was not fair. It was really interesting to learn about her views and about how we can take action to make sure women in America have safe access to reproductive health care.
She talked about how religion sometimes restricts what is considered appropriate, and in some communities abortion and birth control are not okay. Abortion, reproductive health care, and birth control should all be accessible to every woman. We also talked about rape and how it really affects survivors who are pregnant and can’t get a safe abortion because of where they live, their religion or other reasons. States should not be able to choose whether or not a woman has control over her reproductive health, especially because a lot of the people in power are men. Women deserve safe reproductive health care no matter what.

by Esme

Vivi and I interviewed Planned Parenthood lawyer Bethany Sousa. We talked a lot about self abortion and abortion access. She told us about the coat hanger abortion. She said it was a procedure where you stick the pointy end of a coat hanger into your uterus without touching the cervix to remove the uterine lining ending the pregnancy. She said it was not the safest method but became an emblem for abortion.
Regarding abortion access she told us about abortion funding which is when an organization provides money to a person in need of an abortion. She said because of the recent issues with abortion bans the abortion funding is not able to help everyone in need. We also talked a little about how Planned parenthood helped people in need of abortions in abortion banned states. Bethany told us that Planned Parenthood tries to connect the person to abortion funding or a facility nearby.

She was really helpful and is going to give us more patient stories and possibly a volunteering opportunity.

by Esme

Me and my partner Vivi went to washington square park to ask random people about their thoughts on abortion. We got a lot of interviews but there are a few we would love to highlight.

Our first interview we would love to share is an interview we did with an older man who was a professor. He told us that he believes that abortions should be available for life saving reasons. He said there have been preventable deaths that could have been avoided but were not because of abortion restrictions. He also said he worked a lot in prisons and he said that the worst thing that you could do to a child is let them get born without being wanted or being able to be cared for. He said it is a disservice to the child and the mother. We also talked to a person with a different view. This person believes he does not believe in abortion but he believes that people should have the right to choose. He had a completely different view about birth control. He said that he believes that birth control is murder and should not be allowed in any place. For our last interview we interviewed this woman from the UK. She was very pro abortion. She did not know much about the states but did know that women should be able to choose for themselves.

After all the interviews we were so surprised and happy with the amount of information we learned. This fieldwork was a huge help to figure out normal peoples opinions. If we could, we would do this again.

by Esme

We interviewed Paola about her experience as a Planned Parenthood educator. An educator is someone who goes to schools and jails and educates people on periods, abortions and sexual health. She was not only an educator though, she worked in screening the patients and scheduling appointments. We asked her if she had any stories she could tell us and she gave us two. SHe told us the story of a girl who did not want an abortion but whose mom was forcing her to get one. During the screening process Paola saw that she did not want an abortion and they would not permit her having one. The screening process is completely confidential and no one but the patient can go into the room. She also told us the story of a woman who was battling addiction coming in to schedule an appointment. Paola said that the woman was a little rude but she saw that she was dealing with something and did not judge her. The next week when the woman came back for her appointment she gave Paola a hug and said thank you for no Judging me. A lot of people have to get abortions but some people don’t agree.

We asked her if any people would come to Planned Parenthood to protest its existence. She told us about the 40 day life group. This was a group of people who would stand outside of the planned parenthood for 40 days in protest of abortion. We also asked her to talk a little bit on the effects of birth control banning. She told us that everybody uses birth control for different reasons such as period pausing, and acne control. To take birth control away from people without knowing what they need it for and how much they need it is inhumane and wrong.

A lot of people suffer and die because of abortion. It is unfair and cruel to be banning healthcare that people need to live. Paola helped us understand so much more and we are really grateful to her for all that she has done. She was a huge help for our research and gave us a lot of great information.

by Esme

I interviewed Ava Dawson with My partener Vivi. We asked her a series of questions. One of the main questions we asked her was what is your views on women needing Abortions or getting them. She said that she believed all women should have the choice and option because you never know what they are going through. A lot of women get Abortions for many reasons including, Rape or assault, unplanned, or underage, and income. Women all over the United Staes are being told what they can do with their own bodies and that is not fair.

In addition to asking her thoughts on the general abortion we asked her why do people in power think they have the right to a different womens body. Ava told us that a lot of it is off of religious belief. A lot of people believe that even if the baby isn’t born yet it is cruel to kill them. Ava also touched on the fact that women believe that because they are also women they should be able to choose for other people. In the end it all ends up tying back to the religious beliefs that it is killing the child. Ava Dawson was a massive help to our studies for our project. We learned so much and it is shocking the more facts we learn.