Prairie State Wire

Illinois Right to Life posted on Facebook that with clinics nationwide closing because of COVID-19, pro-choice groups suggest pregnant women consider medication to induce abortion as a safe alternative.

The organization shared a recent opinion piece by Townhall columnist Katie Yoder regarding Planned Parenthood and other clinics using telemedicine and mailing patients the progesterone blocker RU-486 and hormone pill Misoprostol to induce abortions at home.

Last week, Planned Parenthood held a forum with several other Illinois organizations regarding how they are keeping patients and workers safe during the coronavirus pandemic.

Jennifer Welch, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Illinois, was joined by Resilience executive director Erin Walton, Instituto del Progreso Latino president Karina Ayala-Bermejo and NAMI Chicago executive director Alexa James during the forum.

James said her organization's call volume has increased 266% with people calling about basic needs since the pandemic began and they have been connecting with other organizations for help.

"NAMI Chicago identifies gaps in families' lives and tries to fill them with resources to promote wellness," James said. "The way that we heal is not just in a facility, with a clinician or with medication. They need community, a sense of purpose, stable housing—all of those things have been stripped from people's lives due to COVID-19."

James said NAMI Chicago has been putting people in hotels and other housing, as well as following up with them.

"We've stepped into supporting a safety net that was already fragile," James said. "We've been weaving in services to help the community."

Welch said Planned Parenthood has been taking measures to ensure the safety of staff, patients and the communities the organization serves.

"We've been proactive—to build resiliency, be compassionate in approach," Welch said. "We were prepared for a lot of things, but there was no way to prepare for this. There are fast-moving and unknown variables that presented an unprecedented challenge. We've been keeping an eye on our mission and core values."

Welch said the organization consolidated 17 health centers temporarily into six centers and expanded the days and hours those centers are open.

"We really thought about the demographics of the communities we are serving and implemented a team-based approach," Welch said. "We've been trying to support social distancing while continuing to provide essential care."

Ayala-Bermejo said Instituto surveyed its participants and found that 60 percent had reported income loss, while 40 percent are not working at all.

"We also found that 30.3 percent are struggling with stress and anxiety—that's a lot coming from a community that struggles with the stigma of mental health," Ayala-Bermejo said. "Of our participants, 14.5 percent are essential workers. It's a shift of being responsive to this shift and being aware of barriers that once existed are magnified—transportation, child care, food, also dealing with roof-over-head situations."

Ayala-Bermejo said the coronavirus crisis has been a triage approach of addressing basic needs, but it is a priority that the organization's participants and employees are safe.

Walton said unlike the other organizations, their numbers have gone down quite a bit since the pandemic began.

"People are truly fearful of going inside ER spaces at this time," Walton said. "We're working diligently that survivors know there are alternative options."

Walton said community clinics provide much of the same services as emergency departments and that many of the organization's clients also receive therapeutic services from them as well, which they've extended to teleconference and video conference for the time being.

"However, many of our clients are not in spaces they feel comfortable taking part in these," Walton said. "We struggle with that. We struggle with clients who don't have economic financing to do video conferencing."

James said as part of the service industry, her employees cannot take care of others when not well themselves.

"Mental wellness is our biggest priority," James said. "We are our programs. We're offering free mental health to employees and have increased supervision and check-ins."

Walton said they have been establishing some of the same things as NAMI Chicago but not all.

"We have a committee assessing peers and what staff wants and needs at this time," Walton said. "We want our employees to work at a pace that feels most comfortable and we have assured staff it's ok if they can't work a 40-hour workweek at this time."

Welch said before the pandemic, Planned Parenthood had already created a special paid leave program.

"We knew people wouldn't be able to get to their center," Welch said. "We are trying to tend to our team as well as our clients and we've urged those who can to telecommute."

Ayala-Bermejo said they have tried to do everything via Zoom, but she noticed there has already been some Zoom fatigue experienced by some.

"We also launched a wellness initiative prior to COVID," Ayala-Bermejo said. "The digital divide issue happens with both participants and staff and we are focusing on what our staff needs."