UNC students and faculty perform educational play about abortion research

On Wednesday evening at the Michael Hooker Research Center’s auditorium, a reading of "The Turnaway Play" was organized and performed by students and faculty from different UNC departments. 

The play is based on "The Turnaway Study" which is about abortion research conducted and facilitated by Diana Greene Foster, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco. 

The play, created by Foster’s sister, Lesley Lisa Greene, is based on conversations Greene had with the interviewers in the study alongside some quotes from participants of the study who were either denied or received an abortion. 

Abortion research had lacked data previously and the study sought to fill in those gaps. It asked participants who received an abortion if they regretted it, and over 95 percent of these participants said no. 

“What's important about the study is that it shows that the people who said abortion hurts women were not right,” Foster said. “There's no sign of mental health harm among the people who get abortions.” 

The play was interactive. The character of Foster, played by Jane Thrailkill, asked the audience questions such as what might prevent people from getting an abortion for an unwanted pregnancy. 

The role of Serena was based on Selena Phipps, one of the interviewers from the actual study who came up from Georgia to attend the event. 

Phipps was working in an abortion clinic at the time and was involved with the patients by providing informed consent counseling. Because of her interest in public health, she always wanted to follow up and know what happened after the abortion or after they were turned away. 

“Did they make it to their delivery date or did something else happen?” Phipps said. “We had no idea. And this is a life-changing situation.”

When Foster presented Phipps with the study, she knew that it aligned with what she already wanted to know. 

The play breaks down the content of the study in an easily deliverable manner; there were humorous and serious parts. 

The organizer, Ilene Speizer, brought together 10 actors from all over campus to do the reading. The actors and Ilene rehearsed multiple times before bringing the play to the stage. 

While the play is meant to be informative, it is an accompaniment to the more detailed lecture on the topic that Foster was set to present on Thursday. 

The play and J. Richard Udry Distinguished Lecture were sponsored by the Carolina Population Center and the Carolina Seminars on Reproductive Health, Rights and Justice. This allowed for food and drink and a reception next door to the auditorium where attendees could mingle before the reading. Student activist groups like FlowForward and Planned Parenthood Generation Action were also present during the reception, sharing their work. 

“We bring in a distinguished scholar who studies something related to population issues,” the Director of Carolina Population Center Karen Guzzo said. “And so Dr. Foster, her book is just groundbreaking and novel, the research that she's done. She's a MacArthur Fellow.”

Since Foster was already flying into town, they asked if she could be a part of the play as well. So, at the end of the play, the real Foster and Phipps came up to the stage where they reflected on the play and answered some questions from the audience. 

While Foster joked on stage that on Thursday, attendees could find out more about the study, she also acknowledged the intention of the play. 

“Not everyone reads our academic papers, even though they're in the best journals and, in any case, academic papers don't share the full experience and [the play] gives a little window into what is it like to run a study, to share the results of a study, and then what was the experience of people who were in the study,” Foster said.

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