something different
As promised, or at least eluded to, here is something out of the ordinary: I’m going to be posting short interviews with folks who work in abortion justice, as well as people who have had abortions, about the impact of abortion stigma on their daily lives and decision-making, as well as advice they have for folks who want to work against abortion stigma. This week’s interview, after this photo of Central Park (a reminder to be a tourist in your own city).
Calla Hales is the Executive Director of A Preferred Women's Health Center (APWHC) in Charlotte, North Carolina.
What is your job?
Calla: I oversee 4 independent abortion clinics in the South as well as an administrative team and call center.
How does abortion stigma impact your daily life at work and the lives of your patients?
Calla: A lot of patients come in with their own internalized stigma, which can make providing care more difficult than it needs to be. They're carrying burdens that are hard to alleviate. There's fear, misinformation - they've heard this is a bad place, the people here are bad, and that makes it hard for them to trust us. I don't think this happens in other medical fields, where patients think something bad is going to happen to them, but they do it anyway.
There are also security issues, I'm cautious about what I tell family and friends, I worry about reactions, how they could impact those around me.
What can people who care about abortion access do to help eradicate abortion stigma?
Calla: Not everyone is going to be comfortable jumping into radical spaces, so a slow shift might be the way to go. Look for and point out positive portrayals of abortion in media, other than Dirty Dancing. (Young adult fiction is a lovely medium for this too.)
We've conflated stigma with viewpoint; people think that because they're pro-choice, they can't have stigma. When I first started in this work, I had questions. It was so different from my life, but you can't say, "you shouldn't have more than two abortions." You don't know what's going on for other people.
Action item: If you work in abortion justice, and/or you’ve had an abortion(s), and want to be interviewed about abortion stigma here, send me an email at chaneldubofsky@gmail.com. Also, note what, if anything, comes up for you when you read Calla’s interview. Do you have preconceived notions about folks who work in abortion? What are they?
Next week: Stay tuned.
Until then.