Summer in Review

Juliana Swaren

During the past several weeks, my fellow Philadelphia interns and I have been busy advocating for the PA Agenda for Women's Health in Philadelphia, Montgomery, Chester, and Delaware counties. While doing voter registration and community education tabling at Philadelphia events such as Clark Park Music & Arts Festival and the Lancaster Avenue Jazz & Arts Festival, we have focused primarily on door-to-door canvassing and weekly phone-banking in the suburban areas. In tandem with our Agenda work, we have also been volunteering at the John Kane for State Senate Campaign out of Delaware County. John, a business manager for the Plumber's Union in Philadelphia, is a strong Planned Parenthood supporter & women's health advocate, and has been open to the support and direction of Planned Parenthood. As we move into the August, our focus continues to shift more and more to voter registration and pro-women's health campaign work, in addition to continuing to educate individuals about the Agenda for Women's Health.

Over the past 7 weeks, I have come to appreciate the perseverance required in grassroots organizing, as well as the uphill battle for women's health that we still face today. In addition to correcting the myths surrounding Planned Parenthood's funding and work, our fight is continually impounded by outcomes such as the "Hobby Lobby Case" ruling, and election of anti-choice & anti-women's health officials. Nonetheless, I have had the honor of working alongside persistent and dedicated women and men this summer, because of whom I believe we can win this fight.

Campaign Intern Experience

By: Abby Yochum

 “Feminism is a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.” That’s what I imagine clinic protesters and GOP politicians think that Planned Parenthood promotes and our goals as political action interns mean to them.  It can be extremely baffling and outright infuriating to encounter anti-choice people and laws that go against seemingly basic human rights and common sense measures to ensure that families and women have access to family planning, equal pay, protection from violence, health insurance, affordable housing and government assistance, and safe working conditions, among a myriad of others. 

         At action camp, we shared our stories of why we came to Planned Parenthood as political action interns. Mine is pretty simple, human rights are merely a privilege to the elite few even in our supposedly modern and progressive American society and that infuriates me.  So I came to Planned Parenthood to join the fight for women’s reproductive health and human rights for all.

            As many of us have already described, grassroots organizing is a lot of phone calls and door-to-door and event canvasing. At first and still occasionally, it can be frightening to call or go up to a total stranger and ask them to support your children killing, capitalism destroying, witchcraft practicing, lesbian social movement organization. Sometimes they react poorly, but sometimes you reach someone or they thank you for your work and you realize you really are making a difference. Or you hope at least.

In light of the recent attacks on women’s health, or should I really say, age-old cycle, one of the most important jobs of the grassroots organizer is to mobilize voters into electing new legislators that will make a real difference for social change or to press their current politician to vote for a law that will help our cause. Mobilizing voters is one of the most difficult political tasks in America, however the Washington Post has found that what we as political interns are doing actually works.  In a recent article,

            “analysis shows that citizens who haven’t voted much in the past can be inspired by either door-to-door visits or live phone calls.  Tellingly, our research shows that such contacts, especially if repeated, can produce habitual voters…

            Personal contacting works to persuade people to vote regularly     even though the interactions do not increase voters’ resources    and have little or no impact on their underlying attitudes about public issues. It is the social interaction itself that seems to matter.”

            So as our internship draws near to its close, I hope that we all leave with a sense of accomplishment after these ten weeks of power-building and supporter identification because reaching out to voters is the best way we can make a change in the political landscape that so often crushes women’s rights. I also hope that we remember that our stories matter and are important to touch and mobilize our supporters. So go out there and share your story and don’t be afraid of the naysayers and anti-choice advocates.

"What this Internship has Taught Me"

By: Erica Reed

In talking to community members, engaging in research and communicating with Planned Parenthood’s Harrisburg team, I have diversified and expanded my understanding of women’s health issues this summer.  I have enjoyed learning not only Pennsylvania’s legislative policy, but also the culture behind the political decisions.  I’m very much looking forward to interviewing Representative Frankel and Senator Schwank of the Pennsylvania House and Senate this upcoming week.  The questions I’ll be asking will include their involvement in the Agenda for Women’s Health!

My understanding of Planned Parenthood has also shifted, in a dramatic and positive way.  Planned Parenthood is more than just a health care provider for women within the U.S.  Its true greatness is rooted in the fact that it is an organization founded on policies and run by individuals who encourage women to not just maintain, but celebrate their bodies.  Planned Parenthood caters to women’s health needs, regardless of what they may be, without patient-shaming or judgment.  And that is wildly progressive, even in 2014.

The most important thing this internship has done for me in the past weeks is prove I’m on the right track.  It’s easy to lose sight of your goals in a society that more often than not devalues not only women, but what comes out of their mouths.  Being able to spend time in an environment of people who are like minded thinkers has restored my confidence in not only what I believe, but in what I aim to do in life.

"Always Assume Support"

Kate Hancock

When our internship comes to an end and my family and friends ask what I have learned interning with Planned Parenthood PAC, I will say (among many other observations and skills) to “always assume support”. This seems obvious, right?! Jess used this phrase as advice to all the new volunteers at our volunteer orientation at the end of January. It stood out to me then and continues to do so today. These words are important to keep in mind, especially while canvassing or phone banking. However, it wasn’t until I was out on the turf or phone banking did I truly learn the value of that phrase.
“To always assume support” is more than just an attitude, it’s more than just assuming, it’s believing that who we stand with and that our message is important to the folks we canvas and call on a weekly basis. If believing in the messages we spread does not quite give you the confidence to “walk the walk” then look to the numbers. Over two thirds of Pennsylvania supports Planned Parenthood! That’s a “most likely” in my book and I’d like to assume that a large portion of the other one third is simply not properly educated on Planned Parenthood’s services and mission, which addresses EVERY individual, regardless of “income, marital status, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, national origin, or residence” . It’s almost ironic that it is so important to assume support when ALL of the bills we are working to pass, one would assume they are already laws.
As PAC Interns, we make hundreds of calls a week, sometimes even a day. I hope in the midst of it all, supportive people or not, that we all try to keep in mind how important it is to find it within us every call to portray our passion for Planned Parenthood and the importance of the message we are spreading. While talking on the phone, the potential supporter cannot see our faces or read our body language but they can detect if something is important to us.

First Month on the Job

By: Sangeeta Sarkar

When I first heard about the internship offerings at Planned Parenthood, it seemed like a perfect fit for me. As a bio-engineering student at Penn, I'm interested in working in global public health, specializing in women's health. I've always been interested in all kinds of women's issues, from human trafficking to street harassment to reproductive justice. I've always been passionate and sometimes angry about these issues, but I had no way to channel this energy to bring about tangible change in the world around me. I could always talk about these issues with my friends and share my opinions on social media, and bringing awareness is a definitely huge step towards creating change. I still wanted to do more, though. This internship gave me just that-- an opportunity to take action about the issues I care most about, and to create real change in my community.

I've been a Campaign Organizer intern with Planned Parenthood PA PAC for almost a month now. In that month, I've done all kinds of things, from planning and carrying out phone banks, canvasses, and visibilities, to tabling at events to more mundane tasks like data entry. I've come to realize that every task creates its own change, no matter how small. Phone banks inform people about crucial issues, and canvasses and visibilities are instrumental in reaching out to and forming connections with our supporters. Even entering supporter cards into the VAN, tedious as it can be, helps to build the grassroots support system that we rely on.

My favorite part of this internship so far has been tabling at events. I've been to two so far-- the Clark Park Music and Arts Festival on Baltimore Street and the AIDS Education and Awareness Cookout in Fairmount Park. These events have been filled with good music, good food, and amazing people excited about good causes. I've met activists and supporters from every possible walk of life, and the energy they have for their work is so inspiring. I really enjoy talking to our supporters at these events-- it's truly energizing to know that we have so much support from our community. I'm really excited to see what else is in store for me this summer!

Religious Freedom v Personal Freedom

Emily Hibshman

The recent ruling of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby split my newsfeed in half. One one hand, I had statutes like the following:

"Breaking News Update: just in case you were worried that those pesky feminists were getting too rowdy, don't you worry. Five men have just decided that corporate religious ideologies overrule women's health and access to birth control. Everything's okay again. You're safe."

But then I also had this:

"You go hobby lobby! Trust God and follow his word and your business will succeed!"

The second worst part of that status is that it's from my cousin's wife.

The worst part is that she believes the ideologies of corporations override the health needs of individual women.

I think it's important to really unpack the issues surrounding this ruling. I personally believe in religious freedom along with accessibility to health care. Under no means do I, or anyone who was unhappy with this ruling, want to force anyone to do anything against their beliefs. However, Hobby Lobby believes they can force their beliefs on their employees.

Most people wouldn't tolerate an individual forcing their beliefs onto another, so why do we think it's okay for a corporation to do the same? Well, unless you believe that corporations are people.

As Thomas Jefferson believed, religion is a matter which lies solely between man & his god. This means that religion can and should be practiced freely in private and should not enter the public sphere. Once someone owns a business, once they enter our so-called free market, they are no longer practicing in private. By wanting special exemptions from health care under the guise of religious freedom, they are officially forcing their beliefs onto other peoples and no longer practicing it in private. This is not what the first amendment stands for.

There's also a great hypocrisy in the ruling. According to the Huffington Post, Hobby Lobby will continue to cover male employee's health by providing coverage for Viagra and vasectomies. This kind bias is a clear case of misogyny. If they only wanted to provide services that encourage procreation, why cover vasectomies?

This is a ruling, coupled with buffer zone ruling, really lets us know where the Supreme Court stands when it comes to women.

First Week on the Job

By Sydney Epstein

Within my first week at Planned Parenthood, I was quickly able to get involved in all of the commotion.  After going through the action camp PowerPoint’s, I jumped right into the mix.  My fellow interns and I searched for possible events to table at.  We searched for art festivals, summer festivals, and farmer’s markets all over the PA area.  We made calls and emails to many, and quickly began to set up dates.

Once my VAN account began to work, I learned how to upload my members from the ObamaCare cards into the system.  It was interesting to see how many people said that they wanted to get involved, or receive more information about the c4 advocacy and organizations.  Additionally, there are so many cards that need to be uploaded into the system; this is a time-consuming and repetitive task.  However, the feeling after successfully uploading a stack is well worth it.

Most exciting, this week I participated in my first phone bank.  We were calling Republicans in the PA area and asking them to call Governor Corbett and voice their opinion about the current legislation sneakily taking place.  While on the phone, we explained the new House Bill 1762 that was currently in the works.  We explained that this bill would force doctors to obtain medically unnecessary admitting privileges from local hospitals, and as a result shut down many abortion providers state wide.  We also let them know that House Bill 1762 was opposed by major medical groups and was only supported by politicians.  I received a variety of responses, ranging from positive to negative.  While this was an amazing, eye-opening experience, it was difficult to hear and respond appropriately to the negative feedback.