Society of Family Planning Conference Experience
Last month, I had the opportunity to travel to Baltimore to attend the Society of Family Planning Conference (December 2nd-5th, 2022). I was recommended to attend by my MCH alumni mentor, who knew I had a passion for Reproductive Justice but was unsure where to start when it came to my public health career. Prior to this, I had never attended a public health conference before. I was lucky enough to receive support from the UIC Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health to be able to attend.
The conference consisted of panels, workshops, poster presentations, oral abstract sessions, and symposiums. The topics ranged from research and policy to best clinical practices. The sessions focused on the entire family planning spectrum (namely abortion care and contraceptives). During the sessions, I was able to connect with other attendees, including physicians and researchers, to learn more about their work. A question that I frequently posed to other attendees was “Where does a public health professional fit in with the work that you do?”. Their responses sparked conversations pertaining to the importance of cross-collaboration and areas of research that are overlooked. One response that was impactful was from a doctor who told me: “We are all our own experts in our experiences and when it comes to the fight for reproductive justice, so no sharing of an experience goes wasted”. This was very validating as a soon-to-be graduate amongst established providers and researchers.
One event that was a standout experience for me was a workshop titled “Level Up your Advocacy: Testimony Training”. I aspire to work within Policy & Advocacy when I graduate, so I felt aligned with my career goals. The workshop consisted of abortion care providers who are also in the field of advocacy through an organization called Physicians for Reproductive Health (PRH). This organization helps physicians to become reproductive health advocates, which includes preparation work for physicians to provide oral testimony. Each physician had extensive experience with advocacy and testimony, from the local level up to the federal level. They all shared their experience with providing testimony, advice on how to do this work, and examples of their testimonies. We then were tasked with writing a testimony on the spot with only 15 minutes. Initially, I felt that it was an impossible task and even if I did, it wouldn’t be as good as others in the room who are much more experienced than me. However, I was lucky enough to have just completed my MCH Policy & Advocacy course with Dr. Janine Hill, and one of our assignments was a written testimony! Remembering Dr. Hill’s lessons, and my own passion for Reproductive Justice, I was able to complete the task within the time limit and received great feedback from the group. This was a really empowering and validating experience.
One of the providers and CEO of PRH, Dr. Jamila Perritt, said during the training: “Testimony is not about changing someone’s mind or getting something passed, it’s about choosing to not be silent”. It was a very powerful statement that stuck with me all weekend, especially considering the high level of security of the conference for safety purposes due to the political landscape in our country right now. Despite the risks, we still all came together as individuals passionate about Reproductive Justice to form a community together to not only let our voices be heard, but to encourage each other to keep fighting for such an important cause, whether it be through advocacy, research, or clinical practice.
Additionally, though I had attended the conference to network with others who are doing this type of work across the country, I was fortunate enough to run into some of my professors from UIC, including Dr. Julie Maslowsky and Dr. Erica Hinz. Connecting with them at this conference really made the experience feel like my graduate experience came full circle. It was incredibly fulfilling to be in community with my MCH mentors, who have supported me as a student and inspire me to continue to work within this field.
After the conference, I walked away having a better understanding of what possibilities are out there for me to be a Reproductive Justice-oriented public health professional. With each of the panels, the connections I made, and the research that was presented I was able to learn so much about this field, the work that needs to be done, and how I can leverage my experience from the MCH program to contribute to that work. Knowing how important all of this is to advance the reproductive health and well-being of all, especially at this time in history, attending the Society of Family Planning conference only solidified the drive I have as an MPH MCH student to continue forward with this work full-force.