Chicago Public Library, Access to Care: The Parallel Politics of Abortion & Transgender Hormone Therapy

In the United States, two forms of life-saving healthcare are rife with red-tape and completely inaccessible in several states, despite their legal status. Abortion and transgender hormone therapy are hotly debated by lawmakers and pundits, though healthcare providers recognize that they are both fundamental to many individuals’ ability to lead healthy and fulfilling lives. Mary K. Bowman, an abortion provider and transgender health expert, will describe the parallel paths that abortion patients and transgender folks seeking gender-affirming hormones have to travel in order to obtain access to necessary care.

Mary K. Bowman (they/them) is a board-certified Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner with a Doctorate in Nursing Practice from DePaul University. They live in Chicago and currently provide gender-affirming hormone therapy and abortion care across the country through telemedicine. Their 10+ year career has spanned clinical leadership at one of the last feminist health collectives in the United States, the largest LGBTQ health center in the Midwest, and a 17-clinic sexual healthcare system spanning the state of Illinois. They have developed ground-breaking trainings on transgender health for national healthcare organizations, including Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Center for Discovery. Their writing on the politics of healthcare provision in the U.S. has been published in Rampant Magazine and MASKS Literary Magazine.