By Felipe on April 28th, 2025. Posted under: 2025, Blog Post, Featured Article
Medical Students for Choice NYC, a coalition of medical students at multiple institutions in New York City, hosts an annual fundraiser to raise money for important, practical support organizations that promote reproductive justice and access to abortion care. In response to the news of Ken Paxton filing a lawsuit against Dr. Maggie Carpenter, who works with ACT Access to ship abortion pills to patients across the country, MSFC NYC decided to move the timeline of our fundraiser to start in December for ACT Access and the Repro Legal Defense Fund, organizations that promote online access to abortion and defend people who are under investigation or fighting charges related to their pregnancy or abortion. As part of this fundraiser, we hosted a reading of The Abortion Monologues by Jane Cawthorne on January 31, 2025, with the proceeds from all tickets sold going directly towards the fundraiser.
The Play
The Abortion Monologues is a series of vignettes with characters from diverse backgrounds describing their experiences seeking and accessing abortion. In addition to a select number of readings that actors chose to perform from The Abortion Monologues, I worked with Dr. Linda Prine, one of the founders of ACT Access, who wrote a monologue from the perspective of an ACT Access client who decided to self-manage her abortion. Given the nexus of ongoing attacks on access to self-managed abortion and the growing need and desire for access to self-managed abortion in a post-Roe landscape, we felt that the inclusion of a contemporary monologue, informed by lived experiences of abortion providers and abortion seekers, would provide valuable commentary on abortion beyond the clinic. Our goal was to emphasize that abortion is a deeply personal experience that is common and occurs across racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and religious groups, and abortion storytelling provides a way to humanize a poorly understood process of care.
The Event
MSFC NYC worked with Stella & Fly, a cafe and wine bar in the Upper East Side, to host the reading in their small basement event space. The owner of Stella & Fly was excited about MSFC’s mission to support future abortion providers and access to abortion education and allowed us to use the space at a discount and provided one drink ticket per attendee. Due to space constraints, we were able to sell twenty-seven tickets and raised a total of $500 from the event. While many attendees were medical students, many were friends or family of the actors, encountering abortion storytelling and advocacy for the first time, and other customers at Stella & Fly were curious about the event we were hosting and what we were fundraising for. The performance fostered a space for open conversation—many audience members lingered after the reading to discuss what they had heard, reflecting on their personal connections to abortion access and the importance of sharing these stories. Some attendees mentioned how the monologues challenged their previous perceptions, deepening their understanding of the complexity of abortion experiences. Through hosting this event, which was more open for public engagement than most of our events, we were able to engage with a new audience and bring more people into our mission of access to abortion care and training—in the unique ways that attendees will carry this experience forward.
The Future
Through hosting an event at the intersection of the arts and humanities, MSFC NYC was able to begin the conversation about the lived experiences of patients behind the political debates over abortion and promote the idea that abortion care is not just a clinical experience but a profoundly human one, marked by empowerment, empathy, and understanding. By centering storytelling in this section of our advocacy efforts, we fostered room for empathy, reflection, and communication—reminding us that advocacy can be extremely powerful when it bridges disciplines, centers on lived experiences, and celebrates emotion. In a world of Zoom meetings, busy days, and increasing restrictions on individuals’ ability to achieve reproductive agency, an event to be in a community with a diverse, passionate group of medical students, actors, and audience members was incredibly invigorating and impactful.
While the event was a success, we gained key insights that will inform future programming. Given the high ticket demand, we realized a larger venue would allow for broader community participation. Additionally, we hope to explore more ways to involve audience members, such as a post-show discussion or a Q&A session with abortion providers and advocates. Inspired by the success of this event, we are planning a future event featuring The Turnaway Play, which similarly highlights the real-life consequences of restrictions on abortion access.
For MSFC chapters considering a similar event, our biggest recommendation is to create an experience that fosters emotional connection and community engagement. Storytelling is a powerful advocacy tool, and incorporating theater, art, or personal narratives can make reproductive justice issues feel more tangible and urgent. Partnering with local businesses, inviting a mix of medical students and community members, and ensuring a welcoming space for dialogue can make these events even more impactful. Most importantly, centering lived experiences in advocacy efforts can spark meaningful conversations beyond the event itself.
By Felipe on March 18th, 2025. Posted under: 2025, Blog Post, Featured Article
On Wednesday, November 13, 2024, MSFC Student Organizing held an International Student Leader virtual event. It was an opportunity for student leaders from around the world to share their experiences, ask for advice, and provide context about what it is like to pursue and advocate for abortion training in their region. They reflected upon how MSFC has informed their work.
MSFC operates globally and has a robust network of current and future abortion providers, which allows us to come together to illuminate what providing that care looks like, what barriers exist to doing so, and how to best advocate for healthcare access and reproductive justice around the world.
During the event, we heard from several medical students leading chapters outside of the United States. We wanted to share some of their insights here for those unable to attend.
A student leader from Makerere University in Uganda spoke about what access to abortion care looks like in Uganda:
“Access to comprehensive abortion care is highly restrictive in Uganda and other low socio-economic countries due to unfavorable legal frameworks, cultural and religious landscape. Because of this, comprehensive abortion care and post-abortion care are not exclusively taught in medical schools. Medical Students for Choice has given us students from such abortion restrictive environments knowledge and skills to provide compassionate and non-judgmental care to individuals seeking reproductive health services; and skills to advocate for policy changes that prioritize the health, dignity and rights of all individuals. This has been through seminars, regional conferences, webinars, projects and reproductive health externship programs. I can now comfortably extend comprehensive abortion care, post-abortion care, and family planning services to girls and women needing them.”
This student also opened up about their experience attending the externship program hosted by the Dynamic Doctors Uganda program:
“Dynamic Doctors Uganda hosts medical students from across Africa with funding from Medical Students for Choice for hands-on training at health facilities in rural areas. This externship provides students with invaluable hands-on experience and an in-depth understanding of clinical care and counselling in sexual reproductive health and gives them a chance to refine their clinical skills from rural settings where they will practice from when they qualify in areas of reproductive health in comprehensive abortion care, post-abortion care and contraception. I had the pleasure to be an extern for this wonderful Externship Program at Jinja Regional Referral Hospital in July 2023. This MSFC/DDU RHE Externship Program was such an invaluable experience to understand the health disparities in rural settings from a global health perspective while delving into something that I am extremely passionate about sexual reproductive health and rights.”
At the event, we also heard from a student leader at the University of Duisburg-Essen who presented an overview of their work and the landscape of providing abortion care in Germany. This student shared that the chapter has hosted pub quizzes, lectures, and hands-on workshops. They have organized demonstrations, attended rallies, and coordinated with Doctors for Choice, ProFamilia in Action, Bündnis für sexuelle, and Selbstbestimmung. From these experiences, the chapter reports having developed networking and leadership skills and engaged in interdisciplinary exchange with other medical students and with a midwife community. They have grown in their ability to communicate with the press and give interviews. They have also organized effective campaigns to decriminalize abortion and formed a reliable network of like-minded people from a range of different fields and career stages.
The chapter also shared that their engagement with MSFC has increased political involvement and advocacy among medical students and has inspired many of them to pursue OB-GYN as a career path.
One of the University of Duisburg-Essen chapter members is researching influencing factors on abortion provision in Germany and credits MSFC’s network in facilitating the research required for her doctoral thesis.
Photos provided by the University of Duisburg-Essen
A student leader attending Dalhousie University in Canada provided additional context about their advocacy through MSFC. They focus on teaching students about topics they’ll encounter in any field of practice and getting students more knowledgeable and comfortable in providing a variety of services. They brought in a local abortion provider to share about prescribing abortion medication. This provider discussed indications, required testing, follow-up care, side effects and complications, and counselling patients. They also hosted a local pharmacist to discuss dispensing medication abortion pills, and the kinds of questions patients ask in those interactions. The event concluded with a hands-on session using MSFC MVA kits. The chapter also hosted a urologist to discuss vasectomies as a reproductive healthcare option, a contraceptive information session, and an IUD insertion workshop. They see their role as supporting future abortion care providers and advocating for reproductive justice in New Brunswick.
Finally, we heard from a student leader based in Cotonou, Benin, at the Faculty of Health Sciences, who described chapter activities and an overview of healthcare access in West Africa.
All of the student leaders expressed that MSFC has allowed them to organize, advocate for, and train to provide abortion care in their respective regions. Despite varying social, political, and economic barriers to providing reproductive healthcare globally, these student leaders related to one another through their commitment to fighting for reproductive justice and learning to provide the best care possible in their community.
MSFC HQ has a regular virtual events series and hosts events like these, which help us connect and learn about various topics related to abortion, family planning, and reproductive justice. We hope to see you at the next one!
By Felipe on February 25th, 2025. Posted under: 2025, Featured Article
In 1994, Black women coined the term “reproductive justice” as a way to fold their lived experiences and intersections of identity into a framework for justice, not just abortion access. Without Black women, there would be no Reproductive Justice movement, no lens through which to examine the deep connections between reproductive rights and broader systems of oppression.
Reproductive Justice history is Black history. As we honor Black History Month, we must recognize the Black activists and organizations that have built and continue to shape the reproductive justice movement today.
As stated by SisterSong, the reproductive justice movement has 4 foundational pillars:
- The human right to own our bodies and control our future.
- The human right to have children.
- The human right not to have children.
- The human right to parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities.
Black-Led Organizations
We are grateful for the ongoing efforts Black-led organizations are doing to improve reproductive healthcare and outcomes for Black birthing people while ensuring that Black communities have the resources and support needed to thrive at every stage of life, including but not limited to:
- SisterSong is the largest national multi-ethnic reproductive justice collective. They aim to amplify the voices of Indigenous women and women of color to win access to abortion and reproductive rights.
- Black Mamas Matter Alliance serves as a national entity working to advance black maternal health, rights, and justice, and uplifts the work of locally based, black women-led maternal health initiatives and organizations.
- New Voices for Reproductive Justice is an unapologetically Black and queer-led movement organization, dedicated to advancing reproductive justice.
- The AFIYA Center serves Black women and girls by transforming their relationship with their sexual and reproductive health in Texas.
- National Black Midwives Alliance aims to increase the number of Black midwives and access to Black midwives so that there are more providers who can impact perinatal health disparities.
- Birth in Color offers community based doula training. Through community events, workshops, and policy efforts, it is working to redefine what maternal health means for families of color.
- Southern Birth Justice Network strives to make midwifery and doula care accessible to all birthing people, especially POC and LGBTQ+ communities. They offer Birth Justice Doula certifications that focus on building skills in full spectrum perinatal support, health and power disparities and advocacy.
Maternal Mortality and Reproductive Care
Students entering the healthcare field have a role to play in addressing the inequities that Black patients face when seeking reproductive care. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women. MSFC provides Event Resources for hosting a discussion on maternal mortality where medical students can discuss both how access to safe, legal abortion is linked to a decline in the maternal mortality ratio (MMR), and how worldwide disparities create drastically different outcomes for patients of different nationalities; as well as patients of different economic, racial, and ethnic backgrounds.
Through training, workshops, and advocacy, MSFC supports medical students committed to fighting these barriers in patient care. We encourage our supporters to learn from and uplift the Black-led organizations that are driving change in reproductive healthcare. Here’s how you can help:
- Support Black-Led Organizations: Stay current with groups like SisterSong, Black Mamas Matter Alliance, and others leading this work and efforts made in reproductive health.
- Advocate for Policy Change: Support policies addressing racial disparities in maternal and reproductive health care.
- If you are a medical student, get involved in MSFC’s efforts to ensure future physicians are trained to provide comprehensive reproductive care.
With access to reproductive health care under constant attack, one of the most powerful things we can do is help ourselves and our community with how to advocate effectively.
Our community’s commitment to reproductive freedom can be never taken away. We are here to support the next generation of providers with the knowledge and skills to deliver compassionate, patient-centered care that acknowledges the systemic factors at play.
