By: Christina Cimini
Coming to the end of my internship, I’ve been doing a lot of reflection about my summer and about reproductive justice in general. Obviously, the pandemic caused a lot of changes. However, the nature of my internship specifically was not so affected since the vast majority of my work was online. However, I was still lucky enough to have been able to talk with some of our patients that we funded in order to reach out and have some human interaction in a time when we are all experiencing social isolation. It was a really incredible and inspiring opportunity to hear from so many women who have been empowered to take control of their bodies and make good choices for themselves and their families. I am so honored to have been able to help those who are not fortunate enough to have access to abortion. During the pandemic, NOAF expanded its services to include practical support. This means that we are also funding costs such as transportation, child care, and lodging. For many, getting an abortion is an impossibility in the best of times, so it was really important that we were able to support them in other ways in a time with so much uncertainty. Many people have lost their jobs or don’t have access to resources that they normally would, such as public transportation. For me, being able to work in the area of reproductive justice during the pandemic has shown me how absolutely essential this work is. During a time of chaos and confusion, it has been really incredible to see people double down on reproductive justice. This summer, we also dealt with the June Medical v Russo case. The case essentially established whether or not states could implement unnecessary and difficult to fulfill requirements on abortion. Luckily, we won the case, but it showed how under attack reproductive rights continue to be, and it set a somewhat concerning precedent for the future. Although this particular restriction was ruled as being unconstitutional, this will certainly not be the only restriction, and we have to be ready for the next attack. I look forward to being able to continue to engage in this work as I continue with my internship for the fall. I hope that I will be able to continue to help women access their much-needed health care in the future.
Christina Cimini