By Felipe on August 16th, 2021. Posted under: Blog Post, Featured Article
Dr. Jean Berchmans Uwimana, an MSFC alum from University of Rwanda, uses creativity and community engagement to advocate for safe abortion. Here he talks about his personal journey from being staunchly anti-choice to dedicating his career to the advancement of safe abortion.
What made you decide to become involved with MSFC?
I started my undergraduate medical training at the University of Rwanda in 2013, coming from a very religious Catholic male high school where future priests are trained. I deviated and decided to do something different, which was a painful decision to perceive for many, including parents, classmates, and school representatives. They all had hope for me as a future priest who has been the head boy (to be a “head boy” in that school, they should see qualities of a future priest, to be able to lead other future priests). The headmaster (a priest) even decided to hire me as a teacher right after graduating before even the national examination results were out. This never happened in the history of this reputable school, but I had to take the job for one year. Besides, my family is very culturally and religiously conservative.
Going to medical school, I had to look for occupational activities that would keep me busy, and joining students’ associations was the only option for me. My friend Chris told me about a pro-choice chapter they were initiating. He invited me to join and just explore and then decide to join or not. Honestly, I joined this group with the ambition of challenging the members to show them how sinful they have become and tell them that if they continue that belief in safe abortion, in the end, they will only hear about heaven in the newspapers. I was a very judging person acting as if I owned heaven, but of course, this was influenced by the single-story background that left me with many similar stereotypes.
Dr. Jean Berchmans Uwimana, MSFC alum from University of Rwanda
The first day I joined the MSFC chapter at the University of Rwanda, we had an opportunity to visit a local clinic and learn from the stories about unsafe abortion cases. At that clinic, there was an infection ward with women and girls being treated for severe infection and other complications that resulted from unsafe abortion. Some of the cases made me cry. They were grievous and painful to perceive in the mind of a human being.
After the session, I went back home to my tiny room at the campus with the homework of answering the questions:
- “What matters between keeping my beliefs and saving the lives of women and girls?”
- “Why are only women and girls in that ward, by the way? Is it because their sin is stronger than men and boys during sexual intercourse?”.
The stories of victims of unsafe abortion increased my curiosity to explore the reality of women and girls having access to safe abortion. This curiosity boosted my interest in the MSFC chapter at the University of Rwanda. By the time I joined this chapter, it was a bit dormant, with members contextually fearing to talk about abortion publicly. Having become a student leader, I am happy that I helped save the chapter by making it more visible, having students at the medical school join, and connecting with local safe abortion activists. We participated in safe abortion strategic litigation advocacy and hosted two successive African Regional Meetings of Medical Students For Choice for the first time, which also benefited other African chapters and helped form new chapters.
Why is advocating for Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights, including safe abortion, important to you?
I strongly believe in people’s freedom and especially the freedom to choose if, when, and how many children to have and with whom to have children and the freedom to decide on issues relating to one’s own body. Locally, people undermine the power and benefits of this freedom due to stigma that obscures the reality of this freedom. I believe that people deserve sexual and reproductive lives free from violence, coercion, and discrimination and merit the full enjoyment and well-being of sexual and reproductive health. When I do advocacy, of course, I am supporting the voice of many to be heard, but I am also doing it for myself because I also deserve to exist in a world where people are happy with their choices, without any influence, because people are the best specialists of what is going on in their lives.
As a medical doctor, safe abortion advocacy has a lot to do with my career. I want to be able to provide services confidently without the fear of legal barricades. This would make me feel happy as the provider and make my clients happier. The reality is the country would also benefit in incredible ways. My colleague once denied service to a 17 years old girl who came to him begging for a safe abortion so she can focus on school and be able to meet her future full potential. She didn’t bring a parent or a guardian because she insisted she can’t disclose this to them at all. In our context, the doctor couldn’t provide the service even if he wanted to because it would be against the law and cause him to have at least three years of imprisonment. Two weeks later, the same doctor received the same client back in severe condition following an unsafe abortion that resulted in a total abdominal hysterectomy procedure at 17 years, which means this young girl won’t ever get pregnant. This made my colleague quit his medical career at 30 years old. Today he is a gym coach instead. This very same scenario may happen to anyone practicing under the same legal aspects of abortion, and that’s why safe abortion advocacy means a lot to me.
Dr. Uwimana speaking to a group of medical students about the SAVE (Safe Abortion Videos Edutainment) project.
Why was it important to you to be educated in safe abortion/family planning?
Being educated in safe abortion and family planning, in general, has given me the opportunity to destroy related negative stereotypes and beliefs that would put a client in danger. I also had a chance to explore the reality of this component which has given me an opportunity to be more contributive to the society around me as I provide services confidently to beneficiaries. If it weren’t for the education that I received through the Medical Students For Choice, I probably wouldn’t be able to think about the long-term sustainability of the education we receive from both students’ to providers’ perspectives. This perspective has given me the occasion to initiate Medical Doctors For Choice in Rwanda. This network aims at transferring the knowledge to service delivery without biases.
Moreover, the education I received about family planning helped me think about creating a gender, quality, and youth-friendly edutainment platform dubbed “Flavours of Family Planning or The Kitchen Show.” This show employs kitchen materials for hands-on simulation to provide gender-friendly information to men and boys about their engagement in family planning. I decided to involve the kitchen to decentralize Family Planning science to the level of understanding of many and as a gender norm transformation approach since cooking in our local context has been for so long admitted as a female gender role. I am happy about this community engagement show because even if it was initially designed to engage men and boys, upon execution, I keep realizing that it embraces the attention of all genders.
Dr. Uwimana presenting one of the Flavours of Family Planning videos.
What do you do for fun?
Primarily, I love teaching other people about humanity or talking about the value of equality. Secondly, I enjoy cooking, sometimes I even feel like cooking for people I don’t necessarily know. Thirdly, I love sports, especially swimming.
By Felipe on August 09th, 2021. Posted under: Blog Post, Featured Article
One of the most meaningful ways MSFC chapters create change on their campuses is through working to improve their school’s curriculum when it comes to abortion and family planning content (and sometimes more). On the Spring 2021 Student Leader Survey, over half of respondents were either currently working on or very interested in starting to work on curriculum reform. Check out some of the ways chapters are changing what medical students learn about abortion and family planning on their campus:
Giving Feedback to Admin:
We met with faculty after our reproductive unit and delivered our structured feedback of components we liked / areas of improvement within the curriculum.Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine
Last semester, MSFC teamed up with other organizations to send out a school-wide survey gauging interest in a new curricular thread that would focus on topics including reproductive justice and the medicine of abortion. We have since analyzed the data and are in the process of sharing it with the administration.University of Cincinnati
[Our chapter’s president] is on the school Task Force on Inclusion and Bias to evaluate repro/genitourinary unit materials.Northwestern University
We have members serving on the board for Medical Gross Anatomy and Endo/Repro course reform.Texas A&M College of Medicine
Our school is developing a completely new M1/M2 curriculum, so we are trying to get involved and support more abortion and reproductive health education in the early parts of this new curriculum. Our first step was to send out a survey to medical students to tell us if they think they are receiving adequate repro/sex/abortion health education. Once we obtain that data, we will go to our larger campus curriculum reform team and present to them why we should increase education surrounding these topics.Medical College of Wisconsin
Adding (Incorporating/Introducting) Electives, Lectures, and More:
We helped to start a medication abortion doula program this year. If successful, it has the potential to be incorporated into the first-year curriculum.University of Hawaii
Some members of the chapter are working on a Reproductive Justice lecture for clinical clerkship students. There will be a pre- and post-lecture survey for students to fill out. It is intended for 3rd year students about to start their OB/GYN rotations.
Brown University
We are currently developing a pilot program of a few lectures (conscientious refusal, abortion counseling, trauma-informed care, etc.) to present over a few lunch hours. After building upon this, we will introduce it to the administration to incorporate more broadly.
University of Oklahoma
Our chapter is working to establish an Advanced Competency in Family Planning and Reproductive Health that will include 120 hours of didactic and clinical training in Family Planning and Reproductive Health for fourth-year medical students.
Ohio State University
Changing Course Materials:
We are trying to incorporate a clinical case that deals with abortion because we have been told there is ‘no room in the curriculum.’ Hopefully by doing so we can promote open, comfortable conversations about abortion.Augusta University
We are trying to expand opportunities to discuss abortion and contraception, perhaps in ‘small groups,’ so that students can actively participate. We have found [values clarification workshops] an effective forum to do so, and hope to have some implemented within our curriculum more formally.Emory University
Current and former MSFC leaders are actively working with the director of the Reproduction Module to incorporate comprehensive reproductive justice into the curriculum. For example, our school didn’t teach anything about abortion until the last couple of years. This past year, there were efforts to have discussions on abortion, but they were muddled by a lack of representation and an overrepresentation of anti-choice bias.
[A chapter leader] is working on reforming our school’s curricular inclusion of Black maternal health issues and reproductive justice. [Another chapter leader] is helping with that effort and working on reforming LGBTQ+ inclusion in our education.University of Colorado
By Felipe on August 02nd, 2021. Posted under: Blog Post
Last year, our MSFC chapter was presented with an exciting opportunity to begin a medication abortion doula training program under the guidance of Dr. Marit Pearlman Shapiro, a then-first-year family planning fellow. Dr. Pearlman Shapiro began a surgical abortion doula program as a medical student at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in 2013, in which medical students were trained to provide emotional, physical, and informational support throughout a patient’s abortion procedure. She proposed starting a similar program in Hawaii, and we were able to recruit 12 medical students during our first semester!
We held our very first training session in January 2021. We provided an overview of medication abortions and contraception, discussed challenging scenarios, and participated in a values clarification session led by 3 of MSFC’s experienced student leaders. As tele-doulas, we have had the chance to support patients through the bleeding and cramping of medication abortions, encourage women feeling weighted down by religious beliefs, and provide comfort for those facing their abortions alone. Of the 194 patients offered this service in the past months, 37 (19%) were interested in participating in the program. All were contacted by one of our medical student tele-doulas by text message for support during their medication abortion.
Dr. Pearlman Shapiro and the students who took part on the The Doula Project
Our goals for The Doula Project have been two-fold. First, we wanted to provide support for women undergoing medication abortions, which can be both emotionally and physically taxing. This was especially important to us as the COVID-19 pandemic imposed significant social isolation. The majority of trained abortion providers in Hawaii are concentrated in urban areas such as Honolulu, making access particularly limited for neighbor island patients. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic created another obstacle for women to access in-person abortion services. Medication abortions provided remotely via telehealth have provided a solution to both of these problems. Second, we wanted to present medical students with a unique opportunity to interact with patients during a time when clinical experiences were also limited. We hoped that through these interactions, medical students would strengthen their knowledge of abortions, build clinical skills in communication and patient advocacy, and increase their comfort and willingness to provide abortion care in the future.
With a promising first semester, we are now planning a second training session this Fall and intend to sustain The Doula Project as a student-driven initiative through future classes. We also hope to share what we’ve learned with other chapters who are interested in starting a doula program of their own.
If you’d like to connect with Morgan or Dr. Pearlman Shapiro for more information, reach out to students@msfc.org.
By Felipe on July 26th, 2021. Posted under: Blog Post, Featured Article
In the US, abortion restrictions are mounting, and threats to abortion access are more significant than ever. In many parts of the world, abortion remains illegal, increasing the risk of unsafe abortion. No matter where we are, we struggle against systems of colonialism, religious imperialism, and patriarchy.
Abortion activists in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland organized, agitated, and campaigned for years to bring safe, legal abortion to their communities. Finally, in 2018, the Republic of Ireland voted—overwhelmingly—to legalize abortion. Northern Ireland followed suit in 2019. A panel of Irish and Northern Irish activists who helped shepherd legal abortion shared their experience organizing in traditionally religious, conservative areas and their work in expanding abortion access. JoAnne Neary from the Abortion Rights Campaign; Jamie Canavan, Aisling Hayes, and Maraleeze Keane from Galway Pro-Choice; and MSFC alumna Jill McManus from Alliance for Choice discussed their work in chipping away at the oppressive systems that harm their communities.
Tips for starting conversations with conservative communities.
- Meet people where they are at and understand they aren’t coming from a bad place. They aren’t against human rights, but they’ve been socialized to think anti-abortion is the most compassionate choice.
- Reframe the conversation. This debate isn’t about the difference between abortion and no abortion, it’s the difference between safe abortion and unsafe abortion.
- Be patient. Give people time and space. The levels of indoctrination and anti-abortion rhetoric we’ve gone through from a very young age can take a long time to undo.
- Give people more credit and don’t make assumptions. We assumed things about the older communities and danced around the topic. These people have seen some stuff. They have seen the trauma of unwanted pregnancies. They’ve witnessed pregnant people leave their homes and never return. You can’t judge people’s attitudes until you have a conversation.
- Use the word abortion more.
- Remember being religious and being pro-choice are not mutually exclusive.
- People often have a list of arguments. Break it up and confront one.
- Always being visible. Wear a badge on your bag or jacket when you go out. People will ask and start the conversation themselves. They are the simplest actions, but they help keep the issue in people’s minds. It felt lonely to campaign in rural areas, and visibility can give sense of community and security.
Medical school is often hierarchical and conservative. It is a challenging place to speak out against the status quo and advocate for change. Here are Jill’s tips for being a pro-choice activist in medical school.
- Finding allies in medical school may seem daunting, but it’s essential. Jill talked about abortion to anyone and everyone, and even if they were hesitant at first, they found her when they were ready to engage in this work.
- Reach out to your local community organizations and feminist collectives. They can offer support outside of the mainstream medical system and keep you motivated.
- The desires of feminist activists tend to be far more radical than the people in medicine. They are very good at making you aware of patients’ stories, how the medical system has negatively impacted them, and the trauma patients experienced. It’s important to stay aware and not dismiss the patient experience. It’s also motivating to be a better doctor and patient advocate.
Although gaining legal abortion services for the first time is a monumental win, it’s clear there is more work to be done. Here are our panelists’ ideas on how to keep motivated.
“Yesterday, I dared to struggle. Today I dared to win.” – Bernadette Devlin McAliskey
- This is a life-long fight. So do what you can, when you can.
- You may not have a big reaction to each event, but if five people show up, they can tell five more people. So, every person who hears your message is victory.
- You gain more activists the more educational events you can put on. People leave feeling empowered and want to join the bigger cause.
- It’s easy to feel like you aren’t doing enough, but by doing what you can, you are making a difference.
- Find your people. Finding that community is a comforting place and empowering place to be.
- You don’t have to look too far to find badass feminists to inspire you. (If you are reading this, you are probably one of them).
- Be kind to yourselves.
- Talk about abortion unashamedly.
- People remember their interactions with doctors. Being a doctor is one of the most trusted professions. You have a lot of influence and a lot of personal power. So every single interaction is an opportunity to make a person feel cared for, respected, valued, and listened to.
By Felipe on July 19th, 2021. Posted under: Blog Post
Oluwadusin Adesopo, 5th year medical student at Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria
What drove you to get involved with MSFC?
One thing that drove me to get involved with MSFC is way the organization works to create more awareness about safe abortion and reproductive health as a whole.
What has been your favorite event/chapter activity so far?
My favorite chapter activity so far would be the world contraceptive day events, we really did created more awareness about safe sex and MSFC OAU (Obafemi Awolowo University) Chapter. It was a dream come true. Big thanks to the amazing chapter executives!
Do you have a favorite Reproductive Rights/Reproductive Justice/Social Justice quote?
“Your body, your choice.”
What first inspired you to become a doctor?
I won’t say “what” but rather say “who”. My mum did inspired me to become a doctor after she explained to me all what she went through before getting a good reproductive health service at the time of my birth.
This is something that needs to be worked on. I’m glad I’m walking along that path.
If you weren’t a future doctor, what career would you choose?
Maybe a social media manager.
By Felipe on July 12th, 2021. Posted under: Blog Post
This year has presented a lot of challenges. We are still in the throes of a global pandemic, with schools being disrupted or reconfigured. In addition, many of our chapters around the world operate in areas that witnessed heightened political unrest, causing additional safety concerns and logistical barriers. Whether due to intentional Internet restrictions or infrastructure realities, a considerable part of MSFC’s network could not organize web-based events for their chapters. However, MSFC chapters overcame these barriers and more to deliver abortion and family planning education to their classmates and sustain a growing community of pro-choice activists.
From Peru to Poland, Nepal to Nigeria MSFC chapters worldwide turned it out during the first half of 2021. We are so proud of you all!
By Felipe on July 06th, 2021. Posted under: Blog Post
Asha Lindsey, MS, rising M4 at Meharry Medical College
What drove you to get involved with MSFC?
I would have to say my past work experience at a reproductive health clinic prior to coming to medical school. Gaining that first-hand experience in the field, I knew family planning and reproductive justice to be a part of my career, so I jumped on the chance to be involved with my school’s chapter as soon as I found out it existed.
What is the favorite part about being part of MSFC as a whole?
About a year ago, I was approached about joining a planning committee for a reproductive conference that would center Black and brown voices. A few months later, the UNMUTED webinar series was born, and being a member of the planning committee is hands down my favorite part of being part of MSFC. I love taking part in creating a space that centers and uplifts Black and brown voices while addressing the intersectionality of race, reproductive justice and family planning.
What has been your favorite event/chapter activity so far?
Easily our Inaugural Reproductive Conference this past summer, spearheaded by myself and fellow MSFC member, Karla Tytus. The virtual conference was a full day event with various sessions and speakers, rounded out with a virtual MVA workshop.
Do you have a favorite Reproductive Rights/Reproductive Justice/Social Justice quote?
“There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.”
― Audre Lorde
Do you have a favorite podcast?
Ratchet and Respectable by Demetria Lucas
By Felipe on June 28th, 2021. Posted under: Blog Post, Featured Article
In Spring of 2021, the Kampala International University – Ishaka Campus held a four-day workshop series. They held a values clarification and attitude transformation workshop and educational lectures on comprehensive abortion care, post-abortion care, and family planning. The chapter administered a survey gauging attitudes toward, comfort with, and knowledge of abortion and family planning. The results demonstrated the power of exposure to these educational topics.
Participants
144 students attended the training. The majority of participants were medical students, but nursing and pharmacy students attended too.
Nearly all of participants identified as religiously affiliated.
Results
Prior to the MSFC chapter’s workshops, only 3.5% of participants felt comfortable talking to a family member about any sexual and reproductive health issue. Menstruation and dating were the only topics any student felt comfortable discussion.
After the training, 96% of participants felt comfortable discussing these topics with family members.
Participants also indicated a more favorable attitude to abortion, patients who seek abortion, and abortion providers.
Participants who indicated they believed:
- Abortion is a sin
- That they would report a friend who aborted a pregnancy
- Abortion providers are evil
Decreased by statistically significant amounts after the training.
Next Steps
Many positive gains were made through this training. The pre- and post-survey comparisons also indicated areas for future training. While participants felt much more comfortable with the idea of abortion, they still felt largely unsure of how they could provide safe abortion care and advocate for more liberal abortion laws.
The surveys also indicated an interest in learning more. After the training, participants were overwhelmingly supportive of incorporating abortion and family planning education into their university’s curriculum. The MSFC chapter can use these results to demonstrate a need and interest in this education, while petitioning their school to reform the curriculum.
By Felipe on June 21st, 2021. Posted under: Blog Post
In early 2020, a group of Black MSFC members primarily based at HBCUs convened and began planning programming designed for and by Black medical students interested in abortion and reproductive health. Initially, they were hoping to plan an in-person conference, but because of COVID-19, the group pivoted to launching the Unmuted webinar series. Unmuted explores the history of reproductive violence and oppression facing the Black and African American communities in the United States and examines how this legacy of racism endures today along the entire reproductive healthcare spectrum. Starting in May 2020 with a Reproductive Justice 101 session, the series continued on a monthly basis through November 2020, discussing topics such as historical evidence of violence against Black women, Black maternal mortality, attitudes on family planning within the Black community, and Black trans reproductive health. The series quickly became one of the most popular online programs in MSFC’s history. The planning committee members set their sights on returning to the original intent behind starting the project – hosting a conference – and decided to work on planning larger-scale events and trainings for 2021.
The planning committee recruited new members to help plan an event commemorating the one-year anniversary of Unmuted’s first event on May 29, 2021. The three-part Unmuted Turns 1 celebration started with a session on marginalization through laws and policy with a focus on the Black/POC & trans/non-binary experience in the South US. Speakers Gin Pham from the Transgender Education Network of Texas and Sybastian Smith of Black Trans Men Inc. talked with participants about how to provide the best care to trans and non-binary patients, from making their practices a safer space to educating themselves on issues community members most frequently face. The second session on sex education, sex liberation, and sexual health was hosted by Tyomi Morgan, a Certified Sexologist, Authentic Tantra Practitioner, and International Pleasure Coach. During her session, Tyomi discussed how future physicians can destigmatize sex and sexuality with their patients, as well as the challenges certain communities experience in accessing sexual health services. We wrapped up the day with three representatives from The Womxn Project, a Rhode Island based organization that uses the power of art, activism, and advocacy to create change in the state. Board members Tammy Brown, Jennifer Rourke, and Jocelyn Foye spoke about their work, particularly in the reproductive rights and justice space, and gave students tips for how they can engage in advocacy work as future physicians.
The planning committee also launched the Unmuted Instagram account, @unmuted_msfc, as part of the anniversary event. We encourage you to follow the account so you can stay up-to-date with what Unmuted has coming up next! They are working on planning other multi-part events and trainings to take place this year, so stay tuned for more. We are so proud of what the student planning committee has accomplished in such a short amount of time, and look forward to seeing what Unmuted programming we are able to support in the future.
The new Unmuted logo, designed by Milo K. Falconi
By Felipe on June 14th, 2021. Posted under: Blog Post, Featured Article
Read Leeore’s account of starting a chapter here. In this week’s blog, she talks about the activities her new chapter engaged in.
Curriculum Reform
My partner and I decided that as we started the chapter, we also needed to work on curriculum reform. If we could help it, the first time people heard the word abortion at this institution should not be at an optional extracurricular activity. We met with a block director who works with curriculum building to understand what the process to change or add curriculum looks like.
As we moved forward, I made myself two promises (these were important for me and guided the way I chose to navigate situations, but absolutely do not need to be universal and likely would not apply everywhere).
- I would not make enemies intentionally. This meant being discreet and minimizing resistance where we could.
- I wanted to fully understand all relevant policies. Knowing where the legal and institutional lines are would help me avoid resistance where possible and ensure that I was deliberate about my actions and pushing the right boundaries.
These goals meant understanding the laws, as well as school policy. I read legislative policies in place regarding abortion in the state and set up meetings with administrators to understand our institution’s policies regarding abortion care and education. We clearly informed them of our goals to enact curriculum reform and start the MSFC student group. We were fortunate that our administration assured us that we would personally be protected from any legislative backlash, but the process required persistence.In parallel, we were reaching out to doctors and professors we thought may be supportive to see if they would be interested in being involved. Many emails were never returned. We received some general support, usually followed by saying they did not have personal experience or knowledge to actively help. We found an advisor who, despite never having been trained to perform abortions, is supportive and passionate.
We started reaching out directly to block directors to discuss options to include curriculum. Though several seemed supportive of the idea, taking actual steps forward proved to be a challenge. We were able to add one lecture to our reproductive unit that touched on the sensitivity of pregnancy, how to counsel patients, and briefly included abortion. While there is so much more work to be done, this was an incredibly stride forward.
Chapter Events
While we were moving forward with the administrative pieces of starting a student group (filing to be an official student group, writing our constitution, etc.), we talked about events we wanted to have and our visions for the group. When the pandemic started, we held a virtual event with the MSFC medical director on the basics of abortion care. It was a small event, but we wanted to make sure that we closed the school year out with an event.
This spring, we built up to an incredibly successful event. Two of our board members organized a talk in conjunction with some law school groups. We found many of our students were curious about legal questions, and many law students had questions about the fundamentals and safety of abortions. Interestingly, the law school had a much easier time finding professors who were eager and excited to speak. The event (still virtual) had 1-2 speakers from each school and engaged about 130 people! We are hoping to continue a partnership with the law students and work on legislative advocacy with them in the future.
One of the biggest challenges we have faced (and continue to face) is finding speakers and folks to work with our group. We have few faculty members who have performed abortions in the past (our institution does not perform them). The institutional guidelines also are unclear and seem to vary between departments, which further complicates finding folks who want or feel comfortable working with us. We have had to rely mainly on folks from other institutions who are kindly willing to speak with us.
—
