On Monday, February 14th, our group had the excellent oppurtunity 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. 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. 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. 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.
Aside from the two abortion operating rooms, we also saw a room in which they performed vasectomies and pap-smears. 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, which I have to admit was pretty cool. 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!

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On Monday Libi and I took a tour of a sexual and reproductive health facility. We saw operating rooms, procedure rooms, recovery rooms, meeting rooms, and other areas. The facility was 3 floors and 2 entrances. They had a public entrance that had security and they had an employee entrance. We went after hours at 5pm to respect the privacy of patients in the facility.

When we were there we learned about what different tools and rooms are used for. The OR is used for abortions and the PR is used for pap smears, vasectomies, and other smaller procedures. After an abortion patients are usually drowsy so they go to a recovery room where they sit until their escort arrives to take them home. They also have consultation rooms upstairs where women can learn about birth control and can be educated about the procedure they are receiving. Overall, this tour was incredibly informative and was one of the best fieldworks we got to go on.

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Two weeks ago my group presented a presentation on Abortion Rights and Access. I was very excited to share because it had a ton of important information. I think my whole group was a little nervous presenting but if every other group could do it do could we. I researched and found all the statistics and laws that we were going to put in the presentation. The research process was easy because the internet contains so much information about abortion statistics. When researching all the laws having to do with abortion I got upset because our government is fighting against women and I don’t think that’s fair. Everyone should be entitled to the health care they deserve including abortions.

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On January 26th our group met with Diane Macias who is the Patient Navigation Director at Planned Parenthood. She is based in Florida so out interview took place over zoom. As a Patient navigator she help patients find a clinic and cover any cost for gas,food, hotel room, and anything else they might need to get to the clinic. This is important because do to restrictions some states might have it can be extremely hard to find an abortion and sometime you might even have to travel out of state.

Texas had a bunch of laws that make it hard for Diane to do her job. She also talked about the Mississippi SB 8 law that says you cant get an abortion after 15 weeks and is trying to overturn Roe v Wade. Laws like this is why Diane’s job is so important. It can be extremely hard for a women to find an abortion and gather the resources she need when her state is working against her.

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On Tuesday, Febuary 1st my group inerviewed Vivian Silva on her views on abortion. Her pro life views are a very important perspective for our topic because to help the pro-choice side we needed to better understand that other point of view. She was our first por-life interview and something she said were a litle frusterating. She told us the reasoning behind her beliefs.

She belives that with action comes consequence and if you make the dissision do have sex you have to deal with the consequnces that can be a baby. She also was walkin about how its a life life isint true medically its just a bunch of cells. When we aked her about what is the female was raped she said that if it was a minor then they should get an abortion but if it was an adult then the female should put the baby up for adoption. She said that putting the baby up for adoption was the best option .

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On Tuesday, February 1st our group had the pleasure of meeting with Vivian Silva, a pro-life woman who is a friend of Cece’s. While the conversation was a bit unprofessional, we did learn a lot about how pro-life people think.
Vivian was very intent on a single point: “it’s a life!” She told us that she was raised with very pro-life opinions in her home country of Mexico. We tried to politely offer some counter points, but Vivian was very stuck on her opinion.

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On Monday, January 31st our group interviewed Jane Kaufman. Jane is the Inerim Associate Medical Director of some of the Planned Parenthoods in New York. She does abortions but most of the time she overseas them at multiple locations. She plays a very important role in Planned Parenthood and with poeple seeking to get an abortion. She provids abortion clinics with the resources and certification they need to provide the procedure.

Our main reason for interviewing her was to learn more about the medical aspect. We asked her a lot a different medical questions. She told us that abortions ultimatly have no long term affects or downsides and they are 100% safe unless there are other complications having to do with the patient. Jane told us there are different aspects that determine the type of abortion that the patient gets. The Type of a abortion most of the time has to do with the age of the fetus. She also shared that the texas laws basically give 1-2 weeks for the female to find out if shes pregnat and isint even able to get an abortion after shes missed her first period becuase the time has ran out.

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On January 27th, our group had the honor of interviewing my mother, Dr. Yael Goverover. Yael is a professor of occupational therapy at NYU. When she was 27, she had an abortion. There is not much I can say about the details of her abortion, because it is private information that she would prefer we didn’t say.
Although we can’t share most details about her abortion, Yael has given us permission to share some things. We learned that after her abortion, she rested at home for one or two days, and then went back to work and her daily life. We also learned that it was kind of difficult for her to schedule an abortion because of the restricting laws in her home country of Israel.

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We met with Jane Kaufman. She works in the medical field of Planned Parenthood. She oversees abortions at multiple clinics, as well as performing them sometimes too. She plays a really important role in abortions. Jane is the one that provides the tools and certifications for clinics to be able to perform abortions and other critical procedures.

During the interview we got to ask her some important medical questions. She provided some really interesting information. She said that abortions, regardless of which type you get, doesn’t have a permanent medical effect on patients. Jane also told us about what determines a patient for one type of abortion instead of another. The recommended type of abortion has to do with the gestational age (the age of the pregnancy). This was only some of the insightful information that Jane provided.

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We met with Yael Goverover. We had a really interesting conversation about the experience of an abortion. Yael has requested that the contents of this intimate conversation not be repeated. We talked about the statistics of how women feel after having an abortion.

Many people, especially pro-lifers, think that women feel heavy remorse and regret after an abortion. But statistically, this is not the case. Abortions are keys to continuing their lives for many women. Having a child before you are ready can derail someone’s life. Stopping it will help them prepare for the rest of their lives. This can help someone be ready to have a child later, when they are ready.

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We met with Diane Macias who is works in Patient Navigation at Planned Parenthood Federation of America. She is based in Florida. In our meeting we talked about what it means to be a Patient Navigator. Her job is to get patients to an abortion clinic. This might mean lending them money for gas, food, hotel rooms, and anything else they might need.

Something I learned was how Mississippi SB 8 effects women that want abortions. This case was made to directly appose Roe v Wade. At the heart of the Mississippi SB 8 is the 2018 Mississippi law that limits abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. She explained this and so much more. This interview was very helpful and informative.

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On Monday, January 31st our group had the honor to meet with Jane Kaufman. Jane Kaufman is the Associate Medical Director of all Planned Parenthoods of Greater New York. She has worked there for six or seven years.
Jane told us about which type of abortion is more complicated, why people think a fetus has a heartbeat very early on, and many other medical tidbits about abortion.
We were really lucky to interview her and we are very grateful!

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We met with Vivian Silva to talk about the pro-life point of view of abortions. She is important to our topic because it is very controversial. We had only interviewed pro-choice people before and we wanted to hear someone else’s perspective. We learned some of the reasons for the pro-life perspective.

Vivian thinks that if you become pregnant and don’t want the baby you should deal with the consequences because they were you actions. When she said this we asked her, “What if it is rape?” She said that she thought that in some cases when the mother is a minor then abortion is okay but otherwise you can give the baby up for adoption. She said the same for incest cases.

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On Thursday, January 27th our group interveiwed Yael Goverover on her experience getting an abortion. This is important to us because she shared information with us that we wouldnt be able to look up or find on wikipedia. There isn’t much I can say becuase I want to respect her privacy.

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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.
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”.
Overall it was super informative and interesting, and we had a great time interviewing Diane!

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Last week my group presented an overview presentation of our SJ topic. I was a little nervous about public speaking but I knew that the information on my slides was very detailed and correct. I was nervous but excited to share what I had learned with the rest of my class. Here is something I shared about my topic after reading multiple articles, Planned Parenthood Federation of America is a large non-profit organization that has locations all over the country. They provide reproductive health and education for everyone. We included very interesting statistics and data that are accurate in the United states.

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