My Summer with Women With A Vision

This Summer I worked as a Reproductive Justice Intern at Women With A Vision in New Orleans, Louisiana. I have been involved with different forms of feminist work and activism in the past, and as a Black woman it was important to me to get involved with Black reproductive justice initiatives. Working at Women With A Vision allowed me to learn in-depth about not only the current abortion crisis but also how there has always been inequities in access to abortion care and reproductive health care in general, especially for communities of color.

I spent my time developing a “Guide to a Post Roe America” page for their website with my partner Lacey. This webpage is an in-depth guide that covers the changing legal landscape as well as period literacy, abortion care facts and myths, a guide to digital privacy, self-care, advocacy in the provider’s office, and a list of many other resources. I was glad for the opportunity to learn about such a variety of topics surrounding the sexual and reproductive health of people who can get pregnant. I was able to not only personally gain from my knowledge, but since a lot of my friends were concerned about how to navigate their lives in Louisiana after the overturn of Roe V. Wade, I was also able to share this information with them as well. My internship sparked a lot of conversations about reproductive justice and healthcare inequality with the important people in my life. A particularly memorable conversation was with my grandmother, whom I had never talked to about abortion or her experiences as a Black woman navigating maternal healthcare. I was not only able to learn more about my grandmother’s life, but I was also able to hear firsthand experiences of some of the phenomena that I read about online and in school. I am already very close with my grandmother, but I am glad that I was able to learn about her in a new way, which would most likely not have happened if not for my internship. I would like to continue working with Women With A Vision and stay involved in the community.