Sitting in front of an audience at the University of Illinois-Springfield, Sara Jane Peal, a 3L student, had no idea what to expect. Alongside Professor Robin Fretwell Wilson, Peal was on stage to discuss their research on reproductive health and reproductive rights in the different states as part of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs “Undebates” series, a discussion series on hot topics in the presidential election.
“It was nerve wracking. I had no idea who was going to show up,” Peal explained. On the strength of their hard work, though, the Illinois Law cohort handled the questions ably and helped inform many voters in the audience and beyond, as the panel was later distributed by Illinois Public Media as part of The 21st Show.
“The biggest surprise was this pocket of old men, and I expected them to ask me, like, some really hard-hitting, sort of more pro-life stances because, you know, they did look quite older. But they were pretty much just wondering about [questions like] what was the right to travel, how does this affect like health care and IVF? And that was surprising to me because I did expect a little bit more of an attack question,” Peal added.
Prior to Peal’s turn on the stage, 2L student Ellen Florence Jones and LLM student Saraf Farhin Choudhury participated in a small group discussion of reproductive health. Professor Wilson described their discussion as “a vibrant exchange of thoughts and information between the law and medical students, where they supplemented each other’s knowledge, shared their opinions, and learned from each other.”
For Choudhury, the experience was “eye-opening.” She described her involvement in the project as deeply personal, with a long-term interest in women’s rights and reproductive health that was underlined by the Dobbs decision that allowed states to restrict access to abortion. Knowing of Professor Wilson’s work in this field, she sought the chance to work as a research assistant. Taking that chance paid off on the Springfield stage.
“The feedback we received for our research was incredibly inspiring. Everyone agreed that it’s an important and much-needed project. In many ways, the research came to life for me during this event, as it was my first time seeing Professor Wilson and Sara share our findings with an audience. It was truly motivational and inspiring to witness their presentation and the positive reception our work received,” Choudhury said.
Peal, who is interested in working in medical malpractice defense after graduation, came away from the Undebates event feeling encouraged by the collaboration with the doctors on the panels and eager to share more of their work.
“It’s just been such a fun, unique experience,” she said. “Actually spearheading the project and helping determine how it’s been shaped and what direction it goes in has been really fun and interesting. And I definitely think, especially for jobs and talking to my employer this summer, they were very impressed that I’ve had that research skill and that I’ve been able to look at a lot of different things and sort of condense it down into something that everybody can understand.”
An edited version of Peal and Wilson’s panel discussion is available to stream via Illinois Public Media.
