Women’s Reproductive Rights (B)

Project Pink Tax and Their Opinions on Abortion.

by Esme

I talked to two of the co-founders of the organization Project Pink Tax. Project Pink Tax’s mission is to spread awareness about Pink Tax. Pink Tax is working in many places giving children the period products they need to survive. They even worked in Tanzania showing young kids how to make reusable pads.
Rhaya Jacobs and Yochi Hobson Told us a little about how they both believed that Abortion was really important and how Pink Tax goes along the lines of that. Womens products are priced as a luxury item just because of the color of the product or how much a woman needs that product. They told us about how their entire organization is a non-profit and youth run. They have people in highschool in college and even right out of college.
They were a huge help and we loved interviewing them.

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 Vivi

For this fieldwork, Esme and I interviewed Bethany Sousa over zoom. Bethany is a lawyer at Planned Parenthood, and she’s worked there for a really long time. We asked her similar questions to the ones that we asked Paola Ferst, who also worked at Planned Parenthood. We asked her if she thought abortions should be legal in America, which is our opening question for almost all our interviews. She obviously said yes, and she also said that it should be legal in every point in pregnancy, and that the government and states shouldn’t control women’s bodies. We also asked if she’d ever volunteered outside her organization, and she said that she actually worked at the National Women’s Law Center in Washington D.C., and that she has volunteered. We talked about birth control and how it liberates women and lets so many people live their lives easier. Birth control has helped so many women and is such a wonderful invention that so many women rely on. We asked her about any stories with patients where birth control or abortion made a big difference, but she personally didn’t have any so she said she would send some in. The next question was, Do you think women in america have enough safe reproductive healthcare? She said no and actually told us about Care Deserts, where women need to travel really far to get abortions and birth control. Some of the reason for Care Deserts is religiously affiliated hospitals. Some religiously affiliated hospitals don’t provide abortions, and reproductive healthcare is not covered by medicaid or state insurance. A lot of women who live in Care Deserts can’t afford to travel to get an abortion or can’t afford to pay for the actual procedure. She told us that Planned Parenthood supports women in Abortions banned states by having health care centers that provide other types of care and helping with patient navigation. They also refer some patients to other organizations that will help them get faster, safer, and cheaper care. One source that is usually referred is Abortion Funds, an organization that pays for women to travel for abortions or pays for the procedures at safe clinic. They also do separate advocacy in banned states, and they try to get legislative seats with democrats. We asked her, Why do you think people think they can control other people’s bodies? She said a lot about systemic sexism, and some women being raised in a sexist world. She also said that society has a mindset about controlling women, and men thinking that women’s bodies can be owned by men. We talked about how at home abortions are becoming more popular, like coat hanger abortions, and other violent kinds of self contraception. Some women throw themselves down the stairs, punch themselves in the stomach, or use herbs to try and end pregnancies. These methods are really unsafe and do more harm than good. Now, there are ways to get abortion pills in the mail that are safe and reliable, but they are being banned by the government in some states. We need to make abortion rights a federal bill and add them to the constitution. Bethany was really helpful and gave us a lot of informational insight.

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

by Vivi

On Jan 24, 2025, our whole 8th grade class took a field trip to the MCNY. We went to the activism exhibit and we learned about different influential events and activists fighting for change. Me and Esme went to look at the women’s rights activism and we learned about different protests and events and activism that people did for women’s rights in America. We learned about the Ms. America competition and other female activists. We also learned about other topics like the Young Lords and we learned about immigration activism. It was all really interesting and at the end we got to ask the tour guide questions which was really helpful and interesting. Esme asked her some questions but we didn’t really get very much on our topic from this field trip. It was interesting but we didn’t really gain any extra information about our specific topic. It was still cool to learn about other activism though like the disability rights movement. We got to learn more about the activism and the protests that happened like when Denise Mcquaid fought for her rights by sitting on the step of a bus for over 7 hours. It was really inspiring and this field trip was a great opportunity to learn about our topic and other examples of important activism.

by Vivi

On December 7th, Esme and I went to Washington Square Park to interview random people to learn about their views on reproductive rights and healthcare in America. We asked a lot of people the same 6 questions: Do you think abortions should be legal in America?, Do you think abortions are killing a child?, Do you think women have enough access to safe reproductive healthcare in America?, Do you believe in birth control?, and Have you ever volunteered to support women’s reproductive rights? We got a lot of different answers but the two most interesting ones were from a older college professor who was very clearly pro choice and talked about how women should have more control over their bodies in general. He said, quote “A fetus is part of the woman’s body until it is born.” He also told us about how he had volunteered for women’s rights. The other interview that really stood out to us was an interview with a man who was very anti abortion and anti reproductive rights. When we asked, “Do you think that abortions should be legal?” he was silent and then said, quote “No, personally I don’t think they should be legal in my personal opinion.” He gave more similar responses to the other questions we asked. He had a really big reaction to our question about birth control. He said that “God wanted you to have a baby,” and other things about his religion. He said that he thought abortions were killing a child. We got mostly pro choice responses, and we even interviewed an anti cat calling organization. It was really interesting and cool to see different opinions on the topic, even if some were deeply disturbing or wrong. We got to learn about people’s perspectives and it was really informative.

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.

by Vivi

For our first Fieldwork, Esme and me met with Jenna DiMarino, our school nurse. We interviewed her about her opinions on abortion laws and women’s reproductive rights and health care. We got to hear about her view and we learned a lot. 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 had 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 r*pe and how it really affects survivors who are pregnant and can’t get a safe abortion because of where they live or 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.