Em-URGE-ing Voices

Posts Categorized: Health and Wellness

Abortion Doulas Provide Much-needed Support

Abortion doulas! What are they, why do I love them, and where can you find one? To understand the role of an abortion doula, we should start with what a doula is generally. According to ATX Doulas, a doula service based in Austin Texas, a doula “is someone who provides continuous emotional and physical support … before, during, and after birth.” Doulas can be trained in relaxation techniques, prenatal activities to ease birth, initial breastfeeding, and can act as an advocate for their client at their birth location (be it home, hospital, or birth center). There are several organizations that offer doula training and certification, such as DONA International and Ancient Song Doula Services. While birth doulas may be the most popular type of doula (as evidenced by google search),… Read more »

SPF 50 and SSRIs: My Summer of Struggle and Self-Love

I first knew depression ran in my family when I was about thirteen, searching the names printed on my mom’s prescription bottles on the internet to see if any of them could be a substitute for Tylenol. Most of them turned out to be antidepressants and sleep aids, plus a few for nausea and allergies. I put them back, and moved on with the day. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary at first glance. It explained why she slept so much on weekend afternoons, yet was always able to catch me awake at 3am watching cartoons on a school night. I also remember brushing off the worry with the faux assurance of SSRIs working just like all medicines do: pop the pill with a glass of water, and she should be… Read more »

Miss(Cis) Expectations: Pregnancy & Trans Identities

It’s the first week of classes and I’ve already had to defend my decision not to carry children twice.  It happens at least once every year, either from friends, family or well-meaning acquaintances, my insistence that I will never carry is met with disturbed, pity-filled consolations – pity because some assume I am infertile or believe my queerness has jaded my perceptions of pregnancy, and shameful disbelief that I fail to follow my “maternal instincts.” This pity typically morphs into anger or twenty-minute tirades filled with alternative options, as if I have never watched a Laci Green video, or as if my decision is not well-informed and just came overnight. These interactions demonstrate concern at best from commentators, but for me, they demonstrate disrespect towards my identity and autonomy. My first memory… Read more »

“Sexual Purity” and STDs

    The first time I heard about sex on my college campus was during my freshmen orientation in a session titled “Sex, Drugs, and Rock n’ Roll,” which covered the university’s policies over premarital sex and drugs. It was during that session that students were told about the sexual stewardship section in our student handbook where “all students were expected to maintain a lifestyle of sexual purity” while attending Abilene Christian University. This lifestyle of sexual purity was enforced by a midnight curfew on the weekdays, male and female-only residence halls, and visitation night where the door had to be open as your RA periodically walked by to ensure students were not sexually tempting one another. If it was discovered that a student was not maintaining a sexually pure lifestyle,… Read more »

Breaking: Bisexual Femme Actually Needs Birth Control

I started going to the gynecologist at the age of 17. My mom saw it as a rite of passage. I was a young woman, in my first serious relationship, and suffering with typical high school acne. In her eyes, of course I was going to get on the pill. Never mind the fact that the first time I asked my mom what sex was she claimed she had “never heard of it.” Never mind the fact that when I say the word “nipple” my mom tenses up to this day. We were going to do things the right way. The progressive way. Kristina was going to take ownership of her reproductive health, and get on birth control. I consistently went to the gynecologist for the next couple of years…. Read more »

Tackling LGBTQ Homelessness in America

Imagine that being who you are, is the reason you are homeless. Living your truth out loud is your crime and the consequence leaves you abandoned from family and shelter. Well, that sad reality is exactly the case for 40 percent of LGBTQ youth in America. Too often, when LGBTQ youth disclose and announce their sexuality or gender identity to their family members, the next step is being kicked out and becoming homeless. Although the majority of LGBTQ homelessness is tied to family reactions and issues, not all LGBTQ youth become homeless that way; over 20 percent comes from aging out of foster care programs. Not only is this an issue of family abandonment or negligent foster care systems, but LGBTQ homelessness is an attack on human rights and justice…. Read more »

Why You Shouldn’t Let Self-Doubt Keep You From Celebrating Your Success

In my first year of college, I applied to join my university’s honors program. Even though I was already attending my “reach” school, I had done well during my first year of college, so I applied. Much to everyone’s surprise, I got in. As soon as my first honors program class started, I knew I was in over my head. All of the students around me were talking about their favorite philosophers and unbelievable internships. They tossed around words like “vociferous “ casually, and leaned back in their fancy leather chairs as if they were born to be in the honors program. You know the type. This was my first philosophy class ever. The readings were dense and difficult. The paper prompts were daunting. The oral presentations were intimidating. While… Read more »

Content Warnings: Compassion, Not Coddling

Content warning: rape, sexual assault, violence, self-injury, eating disorders It happens every once in a while, more often than I’d like for it to. I’ll be watching a movie or a TV show and it just comes out of nowhere. One of the most recent examples I can think of is Grey’s Anatomy, of which I spent a few weeks watching every episode not too long ago. There’s an episode where a ferry crashes and the doctors and residents go to the scene to help people. Meredith slips and falls into the water and slowly goes under, and as I watched I started gasping for air until I ultimately had to fast forward. I have aquaphobia, the fear of water. It varies in intensity depending on the situation and what kind… Read more »

Let’s Shout About Birth Control!

Today, the Supreme Court will hear the oral arguments in Zubik v. Burwell, yet another case involving reproductive health. The case is comprised of seven lawsuits, with religiously-affiliated nonprofits arguing against the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Sylvia Burwell. This issue has already made its way through appellate courts, with eight ruling in favor of the government and one ruling in favor of employers. This case is another challenge to the Affordable Care Act—“the fourth time in four years that the justices have taken up a challenge to the law.” Specifically, this deals with the ACA’s guarantee that birth control, among other preventative health measures, will be covered by insurance at no additional cost. This includes all birth control measures, not just the pill; IUDs… Read more »