Erin King- Women's Studies Student and Intern, 9/21/2010
Erin King, a senior at UNH, started her first internship at the Stapleton Planned Parenthood facility in Denver, Colorado, this past June. She worked in the Denver facility for two months and will be working locally in NH for the rest of her internship this year.
Over the summer Erin had a number of responsibilities at Planned Parenthood. One job she had was working in the Health Center where she observed abortion consent meetings with women, assisted women in the recovery room after having an abortion, and worked at the front desk.
She also worked within the Public Affairs office because she wanted to strengthen her knowledge on the affects of Public Policy on family planning. Erin says, “I spent a lot of my time researching current laws in place within Colorado and the other states included in the Rocky Mountain region (Wyoming, New Mexico and Nevada) that involve sexuality education, abortion, insurance coverage and parental consent. I also organized documents regarding Title X funding (federal funds that are strictly given towards family planning services) that the Stapleton location no longer receives.” The last part of research was to write summaries about how and why the funds were removed.
Participating in the Colorado Planned Parenthood has given Erin a new perspective on a city-based health center. Every morning as she went into work she was faced with a line of protestors holding signs that screamed about the injustice of abortions and how it’s not too late to be saved. Some protestors even had propped dolls in baby carriages. Empathetic towards all women who had to face this crowd, Erin remained strong and resistant and kept on walking.
Luckily, Erin has been able to apply her Women’s Studies degree outside of school with Planned Parenthood. Her degree has helped her focus on Women’s Health and the struggles women have to receive sufficient reproductive health care. The UNH Women’s Studies Program has pushed her to further question the healthcare system, which has deepened her understanding of this critical social issue.