“Don’t Walk in There”: The Challenges Birthing Persons Face at the Clinic

ABSTRACT

During the summer of 2021, the author spent a week at an abortion clinic in the southern United States with two of his undergraduate students. In this piece, he engages in autoethnography and writing as a therapeutic process to show how his experience with his students changed his outlook on what abortion clinic workers, volunteers, and birthing persons go through every day. What has been happening outside abortion clinics across the country for decades needs to stop, and as someone who was not well-informed or involved before his trip to the abortion clinic, the author encourages others like him to take action to support abortion clinics with their important mission to protect the healthcare rights of birthing persons.

Acknowledgements

This paper would not have been possible without the support of my former undergraduate students at Marietta College, Felipe Cruz and Samantha Rubadue. Their assistance to me on this research trip was instrumental, and their presence helped improve the data collection in immeasurable ways. Thank you both for joining me on this journey.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Pseudonyms were used in this piece to protect people’s identities.