My internship with ReproTLC (formerly known as Midwest Access Project) has been one of the highlights of my Tulane experience. I was granted so many opportunities to connect with leaders in reproductive justice. I supported various workshops as a notetaker, sharing information with attendees to refer back to after the session. Some topics I was able to learn more about in this role include medical racism and fatphobia, roles of abortion doulas, disability justice, and language justice. After some workshops, I created digital one-pagers expressing the key takeaways in an eye-catching, accessible manner. One of the most fun tasks throughout my internship experience was assisting in the development of abortion doula self-care kits, in which I organized both practical tools for reproductive wellness and fun products like stickers and posters for attendees to use to show their support for accessible reproductive healthcare.
I am most proud of my ongoing research on crisis pregnancy centers with ReproTLC. In the past four months, I have been tracking crisis pregnancy center locations and services throughout the United States, as well as exploring their strategic locations near college campuses and licensed reproductive health clinics. This summer, I will continue this research to prepare a workshop about crisis pregnancy centers in the fall. I plan for this workshop to include statistical summaries, analysis of the services and methods used to attract people, and tips for medical providers to best support people who may have been victimized by these centers.
I went into this internship thinking that I would mainly explore abortion access with ReproTLC. Although abortion access is integral to reproductive justice, this framework encompasses so much more. Reproductive justice requires all people to have what they need to make informed decisions about their bodies, making it especially valuable to have explored diverse perspectives from various members of the ReproTLC Speaker Bureau through workshop opportunities.
It has been an honor to contribute to the incredible mission of ReproTLC. I am grateful for a workplace culture that supports me throughout all my endeavors as an intern, student, and human. I extend my gratitude to Provider and Community Education Director Alyssa Stenson for welcoming me to the ReproTLC team and encouraging me to follow my passions within reproductive justice, as well as Executive Director Latona Giwa for supporting this internship program. Thanks to ReproTLC and the Newcomb Institute, I am confident that I want to pursue a further career within reproductive justice after I graduate. I look forward to the continuing work I will do with ReproTLC later in the year!
