I drove up to Milwaukee recently with my mom to go to a fundraiser for the Red Tent Fund, where I now intern. During one of the organizers’ speeches, she told a story of the first time she learned what abortion was. My mom turned to me and asked if I remembered learning what it meant to have an abortion. I thought about it for a moment and concluded that, no, I don’t remember ever specifically learning what it was.
To me, abortion and reproductive health have always been a constant. In the same way most people don’t necessarily have a memory of learning what a vaccine or a check-up is – it just is. For my sister and me, it was always simple; our mom is a doctor, and she does abortions. Same as if she did brain surgery or set broken bones.
For my whole life, a part of my existence has always revolved around reproductive health. I often joke that I am a child of nepotism in the reproductive rights space, which is partly true. However, I have found my own path in the space. I’m not sure if the passion was ignited by the chanting of the rallies I attended when I was small, the community that surrounded me when I started working in a clinic at sixteen, or the eerie silence that befell my household on June 24, 2022, and the look of pure fear and devastation on my mom’s face.
All these moments fall into the constant place that reproductive health has held in my life. That is what initially led me to the Red Ten Fund.
Working for the Red Tent Fund, I see a different, and equally important, side of the abortion world. I spent years watching women work tirelessly to make sure every patient they come across is safe and well cared for in their abortion experience. Now I watch the women of Red Tent Fund dedicate their time to making sure everyone has access to that level of care, no matter their income or zip code.
The amount of passion I see in my mom, my coworkers, my boss and every person who is part of this movement fuels my passion for reproductive rights. Knowing that abortion isn’t some taboo subject, it’s medicine, it’s access, it’s equity.
At the end of the day, I hope my work leads to a future where abortion can just be. Where every person can feel comfortable knowing that if they need reproductive healthcare, they will have access to it. Where nobody feels shocked learning what abortion is, because healthcare shouldn’t be shocking, and access is for everyone.
Noa Adams is a student in her final year at University of Vermont, studying English and Art History. She has spent over 5 years working in the reproductive health field as a patient advocate at a clinic in Chicago IL, where she is from. She currently interns for the Red Tent Fund.
