Crossword Puzzling for Repro Justice

Created by the �������ýҕ�l Repro Project for your puzzling fun, enjoy!

Season’s Greetings!

May your Holidays be filled with warm hugs, delicious foods, relaxation and renewal��

Also Check Out & Share – �������ýҕ�l Reproductive Health Project eNews – Dec 20, 2025
Still We Rise: Building Community is Love and Hope in Action

Answer Sheet

Download Printable PDF

Explore the �������ýҕ�l Reproductive Health Project

Find news, tips, tools, opportunities�� & more!
for �������ýҕ�l Repro Project Updates

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AMSA Abortion Care & Reproductive Justice Institutes – Summer 2026

Four In-person Learning Opportunities the Summer in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville, NC!

Summer 2026 – Applications Open Now – Seats Limited!

Four Date Options in Summer 2026:
May 14 – 17 (Summer A)
June 11 – 14 (Summer B)
July 30 – August 2 (Summer C)
August 20 – 23 (Summer D)

No cost for selected applicants – Scholarships cover ALL expenses
Apply Today!

If YOU are a medical student based in the U.S., an �������ýҕ�l member* and YOU, like �������ýҕ�l, believe:

• reproductive health services, including abortion care, are essential to comprehensive health care,
• legal, safe, voluntary abortions should be available to all who need them, regardless of how much they earn, who they work for, or what state they live in, and
• both Undergraduate Medical Education (UME) and Graduate Medical Education (GME) programs should offer abortion education and training.

If YOU uphold the fundamental principles of reproductive justice:**

• the right to have children,
• the right to not have children, and
• the right to nurture the children we have in a safe and healthy environment.

If YOU are interested in becoming part of a diverse physician workforce that includes highly skilled, culturally sensitive physicians prepared to provide abortion services to those who need them in various health care workplaces.

And, YOU are available ANY of these four date options:

• May 14 – 17 (Summer A)
• June 11 – 14 (Summer B)
• July 30 – August 2 (Summer C)
• August 20 – 23 (Summer D)

READ ON!

The AMSA Abortion Care & Reproductive Health Project is excited to host 4 in-person Abortion Care & Reproductive Justice Institutes this summer.
Each Institute will engage 10 U.S. based medical students in thought-provoking, dynamic conversations, as well as issue education, and hands-on clinical skill-building, with key experts working in abortion care, reproductive health and education, research, or reproductive and social justice.

Our retreat-like setting is a beautiful private location nestled deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The Institutes are designed to provide deep dive opportunities to build knowledge, skills, and connections in a supportive, nurturing and Love-centered community, with a focus on finding and connecting with joy as we work on challenging issues facing our communities and future practice as physicians.

Clinical skill-building sessions will include a MVA “papaya” workshop and values-clarification training.

We will explore the impact of the Dobbs decision on reproductive health access, practice and policies at the state level, as well as medication abortion and self-managed abortion. Learning opportunities will also include:

• effective messaging communications
• networking and advocacy training
• building power and your circles of influence
• identifying and engaging reproductive freedom champions in your state
• values-based research and using data to make change.

The �������ýҕ�l Reproductive Health Project provides resources and on-going support to organize local education and skill-building sessions for future physicians around the United States.
Institute participants will be encouraged and supported to share the knowledge and skills they will gain through research project posters, journal articles, blog posts, social media, or organizing local events during the 2025-2026 academic year. Local events could include, but are not limited to: clinical skills-building, networking and advocacy training, issue education, understanding state reproductive health policies, and values-based messaging and research.

The program begins on Thursday evening with a group dinner and ends after breakfast on Sunday morning. In addition to didactic and clinical workshop-style learning, there will be ample time for informal conversations, delicious meals and snacks, walking in the woods, star-gazing, and relaxing in the hot-tubs and around the fire. Each participant will have their own bedroom, some bathrooms will be shared. Meals will be prepared together.

• Want to know more about what an �������ýҕ�l Repro Institute is really like?
  Read what a M4 student who joined us last summer had to say about the experience
  Recharging Your Medical Passion: The Power of a Retreat
  Why Every Medical Student Should Do a Medical Retreat (for any specialty)

Successful applicants will receive reimbursements (up to $600) to cover their travel expenses (students make their own travel arrangements). All meals, on-site training supplies, and transportation from the to the retreat location are provided at no cost.

DEADLINES:

• Application deadline for ALL 2026 Institutes is Sunday, March 29 at 11:59pmPT
• Applicants are accepted on a rolling basis and will be notified of acceptance at least 30 days before the Institute they are selected for
• Selected applicant must confirm attendance within 7 days of notification of their selection

Upon completion of the Institute, certificates of participation to add to your CV will be provided.

Applications Open Now – Seats Limited
Apply Today!

###

For more information email rhp@amsa.org

*�������ýҕ�l membership info link
**Source –

The post 4 Amazing Summer 2026 Adventures in Learning with the �������ýҕ�l Reproductive Health Project – Apply Today appeared first on �������ýҕ�l.

Voices of Primary Care:
Dr. Kelly Thibert, Family Physician & Abortion Provider in Nevada��

Written by Nikitha Balaji, �������ýҕ�l National President

In celebration of �������ýҕ�l’s annual National Primary Care Week, we are uplifting the voices and stories of primary care physicians whose work embodies the heart of primary care – a path to medicine which is grounded in equity, community, and patient-centered medicine. Throughout this series of interviews, we invite readers into conversations about the power of primary care, the unique joys and challenges of the field, and the many paths one might take in pursuing this calling to heal.

For our first installment, I had the honor of speaking with Dr. Kelly Thibert, DO, MPH, a family medicine physician and comprehensivist practicing ambulatory medicine in Nevada, past AMSA National President, and current Chair to the �������ýҕ�l Foundation Board of Directors. Together, we reflected on her journey to family medicine, the impact of and need for primary care in our present moment, and the continued place that AMSA takes in shaping Dr. Thibert’s path as an inspiring physician-activist.

Nikitha: Welcome Dr. Thibert! Could you get us started today by introducing yourself and telling us a bit about the primary care work you do?

Dr. Thibert: Absolutely, thanks so much for having me. I’m so excited to be here for National Primary Care Week. I’m Dr. Kelly Thibert – my pronouns are she/her. I’m currently a family medicine physician in Las Vegas, working for a branch of the federal government, where I’m providing care for folks who are 18+. With that, I am providing abortion care, gender-affirming health care, and primary care, and am seeing folks on a day-to-day basis in the ambulatory setting. In that role, I’m still able to participate in advocacy and activism in various ways, both within my job and outside, really encompassing what it means to practice family medicine.

Nikitha: That is so amazing. It sounds like in many of those different parts of primary care that you practice within, that skill set and orientation towards advocacy is so important, especially at this current moment that we’re in.

What initially inspired you to pursue family medicine, and where did you see �������ýҕ�l shepherding you in that journey, in addition to other early advocacy experiences?

Dr. Thibert: �������ýҕ�l was vital, first in helping me get into medical school. It was the reason I joined �������ýҕ�l. Then, I learned that AMSA was so much more than getting into medical school. �������ýҕ�l taught me what osteopathic physicians were, and I’m proudly an osteopathic physician. �������ýҕ�l helped me to learn about the different specialties that I could consider.��

It wasn’t until my fourth year, getting ready to go into my presidency year within �������ýҕ�l, that I really had a great experience in a family medicine setting. That was at a rotation where I was at an FQHC – a federally qualified healthcare center – rotating with this incredible family medicine doc. He was practicing full spectrum: pediatrics, hospice care, treating patients living with HIV, participating in public health by means of both encouraging and advocating for his patients with them and alongside them in and outside of the clinical setting.��

It was then that I realized that these are all the things that I want to do in family medicine. I was so excited about every rotation that I always had in medical school and ultimately that boiled down to: this might be family medicine that I want to do. That rotation really solidified it for me.��

�������ýҕ�l was there every step of the way, both as a pre-med and especially as a medical student. It was really helpful to have a space to come back to when I was learning. Medicine has a lot of flaws in it – sometimes clinically, a lot of times politically. �������ýҕ�l was my safe space to come to learn how I could advocate for my patients and for myself as a physician in training. It was important for me to be able to show up in a place where I felt safe, where I felt heard and supported, where I could learn tools to learn how to advocate, both within my medical school and then my residency, and then use that to be the physician that I wanted to be.

�������ýҕ�l has always been the medical school without walls, and so AMSA has always provided me with all of those additional things that I wanted to learn in medical school that just were never in the curriculum. It really supplemented everything that I wanted to learn to be the best-rounded physician that I can be. And quite frankly, �������ýҕ�l still teaches me as an attending physician, all the time, still reading and learning and participating in �������ýҕ�l activities. It was really beneficial and necessary for me to be a part of �������ýҕ�l, to be the best family medicine doc.

Nikitha: That is so beautiful. It’s so lovely to hear how �������ýҕ�l has partly shaped your journey towards family medicine. I’m hearing so much about how �������ýҕ�l provided that safe space for you to explore medicine and all of its points of beauty, but also its flaws.

We’re having this discussion at a time where evidence-based medicine is increasingly under attack, we’re seeing cuts to care on a federal level, and we’re seeing how that places access to healthcare in peril. I’m wondering how you were able to translate that safe space that you experienced at AMSA to what you do now as a family medicine physician, meeting this current moment?

Dr. Thibert: Yeah, this is so important, especially at this time, so I really appreciate you asking that. Medicine, and specifically the physician frontline, is where a lot of patients come to first when they have questions. Most specifically, though, they come to their family doctor. The person who has known them longitudinally, someone who oftentimes knows their entire family. They’ve known them outside of the clinic walls, which really informs how we take care of our patients in family medicine.��

Number one, we are the most trusted resource for patients. We’re the place people come to in order to ask questions. Even if they do their research online, they come to us to confirm that this is, in fact, actually accurate. “Should I listen to this? Or what should I consider?”��

We are the people that patients partner with, and it’s crucial for us to still be here, speaking up, and showing folks that we can help them understand what is actually evidence-based. There are things out there that come across as evidence-based that we know, when we read and we delve a little deeper, are not. Our patients are susceptible to falling prey to that. We are the specialty that’s really going to help our patients and our communities stay healthy and help provide them with evidence-based healthcare and options.��

Family medicine is advocacy at baseline. We’re going to keep being advocates and activists in family medicine – speaking up for justice, speaking up against misinformation, and bringing our voice to Capitol Hill, our communities, and our states for what our patients – and ourselves, as physicians and physicians in training – not only need but deserve as humans living in this country.

Nikitha: It’s so lovely to hear you reflect on family medicine and how you’re meeting this moment in your specialty and the unique role that you’re able to occupy in the field of medicine through your primary care orientation.

For all those who are aspiring to family medicine and who are tuning in to this National Primary Care Week, what parting message would you leave for them?

Dr. Thibert: I would say choose family medicine – we’re the best specialty. I’m not just saying that because I’m a little biased as a family doc.

Truly, we can do it all. We can deliver babies, we can be there for people’s last breaths, we can help with an entire family in one visit, which is so unheard of. We can be there on Capitol Hill. We can do it all.��

You can really choose your own adventure, too. You can choose if you want to do a particular part of family medicine or you can do the whole thing and be a comprehensivist. You can really find what you love in medicine, find what you’re passionate about, and be there and succeed in it, and be there for your patients and for your communities.

I want you to just choose family medicine. There is a whole great world of family docs here ready to accept you with open arms, and we could not be more excited to stand next to you, to be your colleagues, and to be in this fight for social justice together.

###

Watch & Share Nikitha’s interview with Dr. Thibert on @�������ýҕ�lnational Instagram

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SPOTLIGHT ON HEALTH & REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE��

Reproductive Justice & 15 Years of The Affordable Care Act

Written by Becky Martin, �������ýҕ�l Senior Manager of Reproductive Health Advocacy

Sunday, March 23rd, marked 15 years since President Obama signed into law The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare as many call it. Since its hard-won passage have signed up for coverage through ACA marketplaces – that means now get their health care coverage via the ACA. An have gained coverage through ACA supported Medicaid Expansion in 41 states and DC.��

�ճ󲹳�’s who now have affordable health care coverage here in the United States — thanks to those who knew our nation could do better and
raised their voices for change, and didn’t take no as the answer.��

We still have a way to go to achieve �������ýҕ�l’s long-time goal of high-quality, affordable, accessible, sustainable, and equitable healthcare for all in our nation, and join the rest of the countries in the industrialized world in providing universal health care ensuring the human right to health care (Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Article 25).

At AMSA we believe reproductive rights are human rights. With our Reproductive Health Project we explore the connections between reproductive justice and health justice, and work to help students�� lift their voices for reproductive freedom and health care for all. ��We invite you to explore and share the resources below, to celebrate the gains we’ve made, and know that even in the face of the turmoil rising in our country today �������ýҕ�l’s vision of HEALTH CARE FOR ALL is absolutely achievable & YOU can find YOUR people in �������ýҕ�l!

– CBPP��

�� – KFF

Medicaid & ACA Medicaid Expansion in YOUR State & Congressional District��

– HealthCare.gov

: Importance & Impact – NWLC

: A Critical Policy That Must Be Protected – Guttmacher Institute

– KFF

Preventive Care Coverage for:

No gender-based premiums:
– KFF

Insurers Cannot Limit Coverage Amounts
– KFF

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SPOTLIGHT ON ABORTION CARE & REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE��

Walking in the Footsteps of Courage��

Written by Joy Udoh, �������ýҕ�l Reproductive Health Project Fellow

There are many exciting things about the field of OB/GYN that I am looking forward to as July approaches: the joy of supporting a patient through all nine months of gestation, providing counseling on contraceptive care, and helping a young patient understand the changes that her body is undergoing. But, there are also things that concern me. A friend of mine recently reached out to find out how I had been. They wanted to know if match day had happened already but also how I was feeling about the future of my role in OB/GYN under the present social and political landscape.��

The question perfectly encapsulated the mixed emotions that I have felt in the past months. In many ways, I feel eager to move on to the next milestone in my medical career but, this feeling is stymied by apprehension about the state of reproductive healthcare.��

What does it mean that hospitals are walking back their efforts to promote
diversity, equity, and inclusion?��

Will I have to step aside as ICE officials raid a labor and delivery unit?��

Can a state I don’t practice in file a lawsuit against me for
providing abortion care to a patient that requests it?��

I used to think that I would be able to look to medical institutions who have built the foundation of my training on the oath to Do No Harm for direction during times like these. This has proven to be wrong as I watch the medical institution inch closer and closer to crossing the line of harm in some cases and outrightly leaping over it in others either through complacency, inaction, turning a blind eye or demurring to authoritarian demands.

As Abortion Provider Appreciation Day approached this year, I kept feeling frustrated because in an ideal world, it shouldn’t be courageous to do the right thing: to provide abortion care as part of the spectrum of support that I am able to give to my future patients. But that world doesn’t yet exist. However, there are individuals and coalitions that not only understand the impetus to Do No Harm but also act in accordance with their beliefs. They understand that the ever changing chimera of legality is often a tool of racism, sexism and eugenics. I have long since turned my gaze from the institution to these groups of people who embody the values that I set out to uphold as a young physician.����

I recently watched , a documentary about an underground group of women that provided thousands of safe abortions in Chicago during the 1970s and something that one of the former Jane members said has remained with me:��

“We did this not just because of the need, but a philosophical obligation to
disrespect a law that disrespected women.”��

Sometimes, courage looks like a group of individuals answering a philosophical obligation and staring defiantly in the face of injustice masquerading itself as a respect for life.��

In reflecting on my friend’s questions, one of the enduring emotions during my turmoil has been hope.��

I draw my courage from the people who have come before me and faced the same things
and insisted on justice nonetheless.��

I have the path that they have paved and I will use it as my guide.

###

Explore the �������ýҕ�l Reproductive Health Project
Find news, tips, tools, opportunities�� & more!

for �������ýҕ�l Repro Project Updates

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Created by �������ýҕ�l Repro Project for your puzzling fun!
We share this puzzle as part of our week of honoring and recognition of Abortion Provider Appreciation Day 2025

Visit����and��On Call��to explore and share more throughout this week

Find the words below in the gird above, words can be horizontal, vertical, backward or diagonal

Have fun puzzling & please share with your friends!

Download Puzzle

Download Answer Sheet

Explore the �������ýҕ�l Reproductive Health Project
Find news, tips, tools, opportunities�� & more!

for �������ýҕ�l Repro Project Updates

The post Celebrating Abortion Care Providers Who Do It with Love – Puzzling Fun with �������ýҕ�l Repro! appeared first on �������ýҕ�l.

SPOTLIGHT ON ABORTION CARE & REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE��

Why Can’t it Just be Okay – A Poem about Abortion Care

Written by Aliye Runyan, MD and published originally within
– a collection of poems curated by the Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters (SRHM)*
Dr. Runyan now serves as the �������ýҕ�l Reproductive Health Project Consultant

We share this poem as part of our week of honoring and recognition of Abortion Provider Appreciation Day 2025

Art and Medicine = a Powerful Combination

Visit and On Call to explore and share more throughout this week

*SRHM journal is a peer-reviewed, international, open access journal that explores emerging, neglected and marginalized issues across the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Submit a paper for Open Issue 2025 – ��

More to Explore & Share from SRHM

Explore the �������ýҕ�l Reproductive Health Project
Find news, tips, tools, opportunities�� & more!

for �������ýҕ�l Repro Project Updates

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SPOTLIGHT ON ABORTION CARE & REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE��

Today and Every Day, We Celebrate Abortion Providers

Written by Jeff Koetje, MD, �������ýҕ�l Reproductive Health Programming Strategist

Today, March 10, marks Abortion Provider Appreciation Day (APAD), a day dedicated to recognizing the courage and commitment of healthcare providers who offer abortion care, and celebrating the folks who ensure that those who need abortions can get them. Especially since the Dobbs decision in 2022, abortion care providers have increasingly faced threats, intimidation, violence, and legal repercussions for providing an essential healthcare service. Today, we honor their work, acknowledge the challenges they face, and shower them with gratitude, appreciation, and love.��

On this day, each year, we pay homage to Dr. David Gunn and countless other abortion providers who have devoted their lives to abortion care, and who, in some cases, have lost their own lives to the violence of the anti-abortion movement. – he was the first provider to be killed solely for his work as an abortion provider.

Beginning in 1996, as a way to honor Dr. Gunn’s life and work,
and to honor all of the courageous, compassionate people who provide abortion care,
March 10 became the .

Dr. Gunn’s compassionate and empathetic care brought in patients from near and far to him. Through his work, he provided life-affirming and life-saving care to those who needed an abortion.

Abortion Provider Appreciation Day is a day – as good as any – for those of us who work on the �������ýҕ�l Reproductive Health Project to reflect on the meaning of our work, in relation to the work of those whom we honor and lift up today. The �������ýҕ�l Reproductive Health Project has a primary purpose of enriching the abortion provider training pathway by supporting and nurturing future physicians who will provide abortion care as part of their clinical practice. Additionally, we engage with any and all future physicians who are interested in learning how to more effectively use their social, professional, and political power to advocate for reproductive health and rights, in alignment with the framework(s) of the Reproductive Justice Movement. While our project is, at the highest level, a project of undergraduate medical education and training about abortion care and family planning, it is also, at its core, a project that seeks to make a meaningful contribution to the projects of reproductive freedom, reproductive justice, and collective liberation.��

The �������ýҕ�l Repro Project is celebrating APAD 2025 in several ways, and we are kicking things off with a series of social media posts each day this week, with messages of love and affirmation for our abortion care colleagues here in the US and everywhere in the world. We’ll also be featuring short video segments of conversations that Araam Abboud, �������ýҕ�l Repro Project Intern, had with abortion providers with whom the �������ýҕ�l Repro Project works closely, including our beloved Dr. Aliye Runyan and Dr. Kristyn Brandi. Check out these daily posts .

Throughout this week and well beyond this week, we are taking action against abortion stigma. Unfounded stigma perpetuated around abortion care hovers over patients and providers alike -– together we can break down these stigma, recognize the harms they cause, and make change in our institutions, practices and communities. To that end we are pleased to announce and invite you to participate in our first AMSA Repro Spring Friend-Raiser!��

Throughout March and April special opportunities and resources designed to help break down abortion care stigma will be shared via our Repro eNews, Spotlights in �������ýҕ�l On Call, and local gatherings with �������ýҕ�l Chapters, members and like-minded colleagues. Prizes and special funding to support gatherings will be awarded to participating �������ýҕ�l members.��

Here are 2 opportunities to get things rolling!

1. Invite your friends and classmates to sign-up for our �������ýҕ�l Repro eNews: the first 20 �������ýҕ�l members who get 5 friends to sign-up and put YOUR NAME in the “How did you learn about AMSA Repro eNews” box will win the �������ýҕ�l T-shirt or mug of their choice.
2. Organize a Watch Party with your friends or classmates of the new award-winning documentary film . This film reveals the dire impact of losing access to healthcare—and the extraordinary efforts of the women and men fighting on the frontline to regain those rights. Help to organize watch parties, including limited funding for food and beverages, are available through the �������ýҕ�l Repro Project. The film is available for viewing in the U.S and Canada at no cost until April 28 – watch the preview .

Find info and sign-up to organize a Watch Party sign-up here.

Stay Tuned, more tools and resources to break down abortion care stigma to come!

The �������ýҕ�l Repro Project honors, celebrates, and loves abortion providers; and we honor, celebrate, and love future abortion providers and those just getting started in their practice of care. We know that this is an incredibly challenging (and exhausting) moment, and we know that the stakes are so high. The way you show up for people needing abortion care inspires us to show up for the work necessary to ensure that there will always be a well-trained professional available for every person who needs an abortion,�� no matter when, no matter where, no matter why. Today, and every day, we appreciate, honor, and love every abortion provider!

###

��Explore the �������ýҕ�l Reproductive Health Project
Find news, tips, tools, opportunities�� & more!

for �������ýҕ�l Repro Project Updates

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SPOTLIGHT ON ABORTION CARE & REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE��

Women Hold Up Half the Sky,
But What About the Conditions on the Ground?

Written by Jeff Koetje, MD, �������ýҕ�l Reproductive Health Programming Strategist

As I sit down to write this post for a special edition of the �������ýҕ�l Repro eNewsletter in recognition of the start of and (March), (March 8), and (March 10), I am mindful – and with a heaviness in my heart – of the truth that this is a world, in 2025, that still does not recognize, honor, and protect the full humanity of roughly half the world’s population. We are alive during a time in human history when the ideology of patriarchy and the systems of patriarchal power have a grip – a death grip – on the world. Of course, patriarchy and patriarchal systems don’t operate in isolation, as they are inextricably linked with heterosexism (heteropatriarchy), cis-sexism (cis-heteropatriarchy)�� and white supremacy (white supremacist cis-heteropatriarchy).��

When we also include, as we should, a consideration of globalized capitalism and (neo-)colonialism, we must honestly acknowledge that there is currently no globally-dominant ideology or system that views women, girls, femme people, and people with uteruses as fully human. I’m not going to start an essay about the status of women in this society (the US) or globally, by gaslighting anyone into thinking that the material conditions of life are better than they actually are for women, girls, femme people, and people with uteruses. They are not. And to have to say this in 2025 is the shame that will hang forever around the collective neck of all of us who are alive in this moment. Or let me say, this will be our shame, unless we actually take radical action to radically change the status of women, girls, femme people, and people with uteruses, by radically changing ourselves, our beliefs, our values, our systems, and our politics.��

If you’ve read my previous Spotlight articles here in the �������ýҕ�l Repro eNewsletter, you know that I frequently write from a deeply personal perspective. This article will be no different. I grew up as an effeminate, quiet, bookish boy in a cultural milieu that was thoroughly saturated in white supremacist heteropatriarchal religion, militarism, and politics. For the entirety of my primary and secondary education, within the walls of a Christian�� school, I was relentlessly bullied for my non-normative masculinity – called a faggot, a fag, a girl, a pussy – and it was never not clear to me that the violence directed at me was because I somehow violated the terms and conditions of my membership in this giant club of men and boys (which I never recalled signing up for in the first place). So, from my earliest awareness of myself as a boy, I was also aware that I was already in violation of the rules of what boys must be. And what they must not be, and cannot be allowed to be: a girl. One of the earliest memories I have, related to my gender, is of being scolded for not being “boy enough” – which was really much more about being “too girly” – when my mother observed me tuck my robe underneath my legs (like one might do when wearing a dress or skirt), as I sat down on the family room couch, and she said, with shame dripping from every word, “�ٴDz�’t do that. �ٴDz�’t sit down like that.” My mother murdered my spirit in that moment; I knew instantly that what she was saying had everything to do with my failure to be “man enough.” It was also an early lesson in the god-awful truth that, among the oppressed, there will always be some number willing to serve as overseers in the interest of the oppressors.��

Femmephobia (the root of misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia) runs deep. Notions around gender are matters that I’ve had to pay attention to my entire life, because my own self-preservation required the development of a hyper-awareness of the spoken and unspoken boundaries that separated “boy/man/masculine” (good) from “girl/woman/feminine” (bad). In this way, I’ve internalized a heightened awareness of the sociopolitical, cultural, and material status of women, girls, femme people, and people with uteruses, because, for a significant portion of my life, I’ve been lumped in with the half of humanity which white supremacist cis-heteropatriarchy deems less-than-fully-human. I was rejected by patriarchy, first, for�� my effeminate mannerisms, and then, ultimately, for being gay (quite literally rejected: my father and my mother have disowned me for being gay.)

So, I’m writing this essay at the start of the month that focuses on the sociopolitical, cultural and material status of women, girls, femme people, and people with uteruses, and that also foregrounds, celebrates, and honors what women and femme people have contributed to the human experience. Afterall, even Mao Zedong, referencing an old Chinese proverb, famously said during the Chinese Cultural Revolution of 1966 – 1976, “Women hold up half the sky.” Honestly, this is an understatement, but even if we just accept the statement at face value, I have to ask – we all need to ask –

Sure, but do we really mean it? Does the undeniable truth of the full humanity of women, girls, femme people, and people with uteruses actually mean anything in the material sense,
in terms of the conditions of their lives, here on the ground, where humans actually live?

Patriarchy has no problem putting women on pedestals, ostensibly to honor them; but pedestals are just another form of patriarchal confinement, control, even imprisonment.

Here’s a prediction that should cause all of us to stop dead in our tracks. According to the World Economic Forum, our world will not reach full�� gender parity until the late 2150s if the rate of progress does not accelerate from the current trajectory.���ճ󲹳�’s another 130 years, or more – that’s another five to seven human generations from now! No wonder the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is “Accelerate Action!” What do we do with this prediction, in light of the legal maxim, “Justice delayed is justice denied”? As earthly creatures with morality, how are we going to respond to this miscarriage of justice? If we do nothing to change the trajectory and the rate of change for the status of women, girls, femme people, and people with uteruses, our non-action is our response. And, just as much, to do nothing would give the lie to any claim that we make about recognizing their full humanity. In the absence of taking a radically different course of action, the ongoing denial of justice and the ongoing harm – even to the point of death – that half of the world’s population is subjected to will continue.��

From my positionality as a cis, white man, my call to action at the start of this month – which is actually a response to the call to action coming from women, girls, femme people, and people with uteruses – is, in part, to call in my male and masculine kin. We, who inhabit the gendered embodiment of masculinity which patriarchy deems most fully human and for which patriarchal systems claim exclusive rights and privileges, must recognize the inhumanity of patriarchy and the inhuman violence of patriarchal systems. And then, we must do the necessary work of delegitimizing the ideology, disentangling ourselves from the false beliefs, and dismantling the violent systems of patriarchy. This is on us (men and masculine people). This is our problem to solve. Our harm to repair. The lives and livelihood of real, flesh-and-blood women, girls, femme people, and people with uteruses depend upon this. And just as much, the embodied humanity of men and boys and masculine people depends upon this, too.

*Image Celebrate Abortion Care Providers on March 10 and Every Day! Learn more – Find Resources ��and��

Find info & resources about Endometriosis throughout March on Instagram @�������ýҕ�lnational. Read & Share On Call Spotlight – The Reality of Endometriosis

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*Note: an excerpt of this Spotlight is included in �������ýҕ�l Reproductive Health Project eNews #40: Special Issue – Abortion Provider Appreciation Day Next Week & Beyond!
Find the current and past issues in the �������ýҕ�l Repro eNews Archive.

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Explore the �������ýҕ�l Reproductive Health Project
Find news, tips, tools, opportunities�� & more!

for �������ýҕ�l Repro Project Updates

The post Women Hold Up Half the Sky, But What About the Conditions on the Ground? appeared first on �������ýҕ�l.

The Reality of Endometriosis

Written by Sarah Osborn, �������ýҕ�l Gender & Sexuality Action Committee, Reproductive Justice Coordinator

March is endometriosis awareness month. In the US, 6 million females are living with endometriosis, yet 2 million are undiagnosed. There is still a stigma surrounding endometriosis and period pain leading to many females suffering for years before receiving a diagnosis. As a woman in medicine, advocating for my future patients is deeply important to me, but this month I am also advocating for me.��

1 in 10 females in the US have endometriosis, and I am part of that statistic.��

The first time I noticed something was wrong was in 11th grade. My periods had always been manageable, but suddenly, they were heavier and causing severe pain. I didn’t know what was happening to me. Growing up in a state with a lack of sex education meant I had never been

taught what a “normal” period was or the importance of seeing an OBGYN, and any conversation about female reproductive health was taboo. My mom tried to teach me what she could about female health, but she didn’t have any medical training, and could only share her own experiences and things she had learned.��

For months the period pain would occur, I suffered through thinking it was normal, but the physical demands of my extracurricular activities were putting a severe strain on my body. Then, one day, I started vomiting due to the pain, and realized I needed help. My family doctor, who I absolutely loved and who cared for me since I was born, followed the standard medical playbook. She started me on combined oral contraceptive pills, assuming my irregular cycles were due to my age. Thankfully, the pills helped for a few years by making my periods lighter, but the pain never fully subsided and I still relied on over the counter pain medications every month.��

For the next four years, I continued to rely on the contraceptive pills and pain medications as I kept pushing through the pain I convinced myself was normal. The summer before my senior year of college, the pain got significantly worse and started to affect my daily life. One night my pain escalated to a point I was crying on the floor and couldn’t walk. With no other option, my friends took me to urgent care. They dismissed my pain as an UTI and sent me home with antibiotics. When I still had constant pain weeks later I knew something was wrong, and decided it was time to see an OBGYN.��

I was nervous to see an OBGYN, but my first visit left me devastated.��

The physician walked into the room and dismissed my concerns. He didn’t ask a single question, perform an exam, or order any tests. Instead, he told me my pain was “normal period pain” and that losing weight would solve the problem. He was in and out of the room in under a minute. I was shocked, frustrated, and started to wonder if I would be living with pain for the rest of my life.��

During the next month I was experiencing severe pain every day, and it was causing me mobility and gastrointestinal issues. Desperate for answers, I sought a second opinion with another OBGYN. This time, the physician at least had a conversation with me, but that was it. He, just like the previous physician, said it was due to my period and gave me generic advice about managing period pain with heat packs and pain medication. I was flabbergasted.��

My pain was consuming my life, yet no one was listening.

Another month passed, and now I barely left my room due to the constant pain and exhaustion. My pain was compromising my ability to walk and I vomited almost daily. Finally, I was able to see a female OBGYN, and was hoping for a different outcome, but I was anxious about getting dismissed again. This time, the moment she walked in, I knew things would be different. She listened, talked with me, did a physical exam, and validated my pain.��

Then, for the first time, I heard the word endometriosis.��

She explained that while she couldn’t make a definitive diagnosis without surgery, my symptoms strongly aligned with endometriosis. And because my condition was not being controlled with hormonal treatment, she recommended surgery to relieve my symptoms. At 21 years old, I was terrified of having an operation, but knew I couldn’t continue with the pain.��

Two weeks later, in the middle of a snowstorm, my mom drove me to another city for my surgery. Afterwhich, my physician confirmed the diagnosis of endometriosis and she had removed multiple ectopic lesions found throughout my abdominal cavity. Once I recovered from surgery, I felt better than I had in years. I was no longer in constant pain and could walk without collapsing. However, one problem remained, I was still vomiting almost every day.��

At my post-surgery follow up appointment, my OBGYN recommended a progesterone IUD to help prevent recurrence, which I agreed to without hesitation. She was concerned about my persistent vomiting and referred me to a GI specialist . After another month of tests, I was diagnosed with gastroparesis, which was a rare diagnosis in someone my age with no significant health issues. My physician theorized that some ectopic endometrial lesions attached to my stomach and affected my stomach nerves. That diagnosis meant lifelong medication with serious potential adverse effects, which means lifelong monitoring.��

I often wonder about my journey. If the first physicians had listened instead of dismissing me, would my quality of life be different? If I was treated surgically earlier,
would I have avoided gastroparesis?��

Sadly, those questions are not unique to my story. Females with endometriosis on average have to see three physicians before getting diagnosed, and it takes years to get treated. It is not just “normal period pain”. Our pain is real and endometriosis can lead to severe complications. My experience has fueled my passion for reproductive health, and I hope my story encourages you. Keep pushing and seeking extra education to become better future physicians. To support Endometriosis Awareness Month, follow Instagram posts and watch for a future Spotlight post in �������ýҕ�l On Call�� to learn more about endometriosis.��

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*Note: an excerpt of this Spotlight is included in �������ýҕ�l Reproductive Health Project eNews #39: Show Some Love with �������ýҕ�l Repro! March 1, 2025
Find the current and past issues in the �������ýҕ�l Repro eNews Archive.

��

Explore the �������ýҕ�l Reproductive Health Project
Find news, tips, tools, opportunities�� & more!

for �������ýҕ�l Repro Project Updates

The post The Reality of Endometriosis appeared first on �������ýҕ�l.