Blog

Dec 12

Helping a Physician Become an Abortion Provider

It’s often difficult for doctors who received abortion training while in residency to integrate the service once they are in practice.  They face many barriers including resistant staff members, malpractice costs, and the need for additional clinical training. An experienced mentor can be helpful in developing strategies for overcoming these barriers.  Each spring the Reproductive…

Dec 11

IUD Evangelism

Apparently IUD users love their IUD so much they can’t help themselves from spreading the word about how great a contraceptive option it is.  New York Magazine is calling this phenomena “IUD Evangelism.” Why is getting an IUD an almost spiritual experience?   “..learning about the IUD is like discovering that some benevolent God has been listening to…

Dec 06

Increasing Access, Increasing Equality

Since I came out—over a decade ago, which was about the same time I started doing reproductive justice work—my straight friends have asked me why, as a lesbian, I care so much about abortion rights. For a long time, I couldn’t answer their question with anything more than: I’m a lesbian; I’m a feminist; I’m…

Dec 04

Meet Our New Interns

  Name: Gabrielle deFiebre, but I go by GG. Hails from: New York, NY Why are you passionate about reproductive health? When I first started classes for my master’s of Public Health at Hunter College, I was introduced to the concept of health disparities and how access to quality care is often determined by income…

Nov 29

Setting the Record Straight About Contraception

Pediatric Nurse Practitioner and Reproductive Health Access Project friend and supporter, Mary Joan Murphy, recently published an article blasting common contraception myths in Advance for Nurses.  The article was written with help from RHAP’s education director Dr. Ruth Lesnewski and RHAP’s board president Barbara Kancelbaum. In the article, Mary Joan highlights the role nurses can…

Nov 14

IUDs: The Other Side of the Speculum

I’m a single, white, sexually-active young woman with no significant medical history and I want an intrauterine device (IUD).  Yet after four months of trying to get an IUD, I still have an empty uterus.  At the end of my last visit to the doctor, I turned to my friend exasperated and exclaimed, “Why does…

Oct 10

Language in the Exam Room

The medical students and residents we train are often surprised at the emphasis we put on language in the exam room. Take this recent story from a family doctor in our practice who was working with a medical student: While examining the patient she [the medical student] used phrases like, “Scoot your bottom down until…