ETSU Evening with an Abortion Provider
MSFC’s chapter at Eastern Tennessee State University recently held a hugely successful event in an area that is often more hostile than hospitable to pro-choice activities. We talked to Aaron, an MSFC student leader, to hear more about how he set up the event, why it was such a success, and what he suggests for other student leaders who’d like to plan something similar.
What was the event?
Yesterday we had a “Meet the Doctor” event, and it was absolutely fantastic. We met off campus at a local restaurant. The physician knows the owner of the restaurant, and working with him we were able to host 24 students plus the physician completely free of charge to both the physician and our chapter.
The physician ended up speaking for about half an hour on his experiences through medical school and how he got to where he is today, and shared several examples of why it is necessary that we keep choice alive. Following his talk, the chapter members proceeded with about half an hour of questions, at which point he had to take a break just to eat!
How did you set it up?
My father was an abortion provider until his death in June 2012. Since then, I have kept in close contact with the employees of the clinic at which he served as medical director; it was through these connections that I was able to first speak with the physician last semester. We kept in touch, and in January I asked if he would be interested in speaking to the chapter on February 19th.
What did people like about it?
“One element of [the doctor’s] story that really stuck with me is how he handles the difficulties of being an abortion provider in one of the most conservative areas of the country with apparent calmness. It sounds as though the support of his loyal patients and the encouragement of a few fellow physicians almost make [the doctor] immune to the terrible tactics employed by the anti-choice protestors outside his office. It made me feel that if he can provide abortions comfortably in this area of the country, than I certainly could provide abortions anywhere I may end up.” – Tatiana
“Our speaker stressed the importance of abortion training to prevent additional harm to the mother in the case of a miscarriage. This further validated my support for widespread education on this subject for all OB/GYN professionals.” – Faith
“There are more of my classmates open to these issues than I expected. I was impressed at how many people came and how respectful they were during the discussion. We all had a lot of good questions and it was a wonderful dialogue…I think being in a restaurant, like you would do with friends, made people comfortable and open. Giving out the details of the event after getting responses of interest ensured that all the people there were going to be open to the conversation and made those in attendance feel they wouldn’t be judged by their peers.” – Katie
“I really enjoyed seeing my classmates start to think deeper. Some were getting riled up about all of the frustrations that come with being an abortion provider. They were frustrated to learn about all of the hurdles a woman faces to receive services, but they were also getting fired up to do something about it. It was really exciting to see the wheels turning in their minds.” – Becca
I personally realized what a tremendous effect a provider can have on the education and passion of the members of a chapter of Medical Students for Choice. If there were one program or meeting I would have again next year, it would definitely be speaking with the physician. I could spend hours finding stories of harassment by protestors or of scenarios where people might almost universally agree on a woman’s decision to seek an abortion, but nothing I would find would ever be able to measure up to hearing a reproductive health expert elaborate on his/her personal and professional experience and anecdotal stories. This, I think, invigorated the members and added excitement to reproductive health advocacy more than anything else we have accomplished this year as a new chapter.
Tips for interested Student Leaders?
My advice for other students leaders looking to set-up something similar would be to first seek out reproductive health experts – physicians, other health care providers, and non-healthcare advocates – that would be close-by and available enough to meet with your chapter. Many providers and advocates are more than happy to help out and speak at an event like this, but it may just take some work finding the right person for the program. I was originally planning on hosting the physician on the College of Medicine campus, but we were lucky in that he was able to help out with the meeting location and resources. It is also helpful to know that for future meetings, we found a fantastic restaurant that is willing to host our group.
I think the members of our chapter really enjoyed meeting off-campus and in the casual setting of a restaurant. It was also beneficial that we had completed a two-part series on the “Values Clarification Workshop” from NAF that we originally encountered at the Conference on Family Planning in Denver.
