Name: Lily Finkelstein
Year: Sophomore
Major: Health Science, Business and Spanish Minor
Hometown: Rockland County, NY (But that’s debatable)
Why and how did you get involved in Stony Brook Voices of Planned Parenthood?
Lily: “Freshman year I saw free condoms at the involvement fair which naturally piqued my interest. So I signed my name and started going to meetings. And along the way found something I was really passionate about: reproductive justice. At the end of last semester I was fortunate enough to be elected President for our chapter.”
How has your work with Planned Parenthood changed how you go about your life?
Lily: “I see everything now as a reproductive justice issue. So much goes into choices people make about reproduction and family planning. Like I don’t know something random like… climate change. But if you think about it, no one wants to have a kid if where they live is underwater. Recently Planned Parenthood has made the switch to focus more on reproductive justice rather than reproductive rights, which means paying more attention to social and economic issues surrounding reproduction rather than looking at it from a purely legal standpoint.”
What do you hope to accomplish here on campus through your work?
Lily: “I want more awareness to be brought to the issue of reproductive justice. It is something that is so important and affects all of us. The “1 in 3” campaign, for example, is about how one in every three women will have an abortion in their lifetime and information like that is so important to know. Abortion is treated as such an abstract issue but it really is so much closer to home. Along with reproductive justice, it’s a broad issue that people aren’t thinking about. We also focus on the GYT (Get Yourself Tested) campaign and try as often as we can to bring the SmartWheels van to campus to do rapid, free, and confidential HIV testing. We also always offer free condoms around campus to encourage safe sex.”
Tell us about your trip to Washington D.C to the Planned Parenthood National Conference.
Lily: “This July one of my club members and I were fortunate enough to go to the 2015 Planned Parenthood Generation Action National Conference in Washington D.C which was a life changing experience. It was almost saddening, but yet inspiring, to realize there is so much work to be done across the country. Rallying on Capitol Hill, as well as meeting with local representatives, shed light on how political the issue is. I saw how important it is to vote and how representatives really want to hear from their constituents about these issues.”
How do you feel about the recent political and economic attacks against Planned Parenthood?
Lily: “An independent report found that the documents and videos that were released against Planned Parenthood were heavily edited and made a lot of false claims. It’s a shame that Planned Parenthood, an organization where millions turn to for family planning is under attack. This just highlights how this issue is so important to fight for now more than ever. The majority of patients Planned Parenthood serves are below the poverty line and Planned Parenthood provides extremely accessible care. 90% of services Planned Parenthood provides are cancer screenings, birth control, gynecological care, screening and testing, STD treatments and vaccines, counseling, and health education. These are the basic health rights that we fight for everyday.”
Email sbuvox@gmail.com for more information about how to join Stony Brook Voices for Planned Parenthood.
Keep an eye out for Lily’s upcoming video blog series, “Misconceptions About Conception” where she hits to streets of SBU in the name of sexual health education.