The Reproductive Health Education was an initiative Bailey started with the help of Addison, Carina, and Jo following the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Timeline[]
Following the overturn of Roe v. Wade, Bailey and Jo started working on a sex ed curriculum for teens, to empower them to take control of their reproductive health. As part of this, they recruited the interns to record sex ed videos for social media. Addison came to town to assist with this process. She said that since the ruling, numerous young women had come to her asking for prophylactic tubal ligations to avoid getting pregnant in college and being unable to terminate the pregnancies because they were in hostile states. Since the videos were targeted at teens, Bailey brought in teens from Tuck's high school to be an audience for them.
The interns failed to capture the teens' attention as they read the provided scripts, so when the attendings were called away when one of the teens, Diamond Thompson, had a medical emergency, Jules went on stage and got their attention by asking them if they wanted to know where the clitoris was. She explained not only where it was, but how to approach it. This opened the door for all the interns to improvise sexual education and advice to the teens. They also recruited Teddy and Owen to demonstrate consent in a relationship and Teddy listed the 11 erogenous zones on a woman's body. Jules also informed the teens that most people couldn't reach orgasm through penetration alone, despite what they might have seen in porn, which Jules told them bore no resemblance to actual sex. Once this was done, the doctors made reels, dancing and pointing. Bailey told them they'd add the facts to the videos later.
While they were reviewing the videos, Bailey told Richard she wanted to re-open the clinic and dedicate it to reproductive health. ("Let's Talk About Sex")
Shortly after this, Bailey and Addison made a road trip to a clinic near the border with Idaho, which was serving a lot of pregnant patients who crossed the border for care. They were working there when Cynthia Craig sent them to get a woman who had an ectopic pregnancy in her previous caesarian scar. Her doctor refused to remove the pregnancy, so they needed to get her and bring her to the clinic for care. They picked up Susan Miles, but the pregnancy ruptured her uterus on their way back and despite their best efforts, she died of the resulting hemorrhage. While they waited to inform Susan's husband, Bailey told Addison she was worried that because of the laws, doctors would no longer be taught to perform D&Cs, a procedure also used in the case of miscarriages, which she'd had herself. She wanted to teach the doctors at Grey Sloan, but knew it wouldn't be enough.
Back at Grey Sloan, Addison said she also wanted to do more and Bailey suggested southern Illinois would be a great base of operations, as it was located near several states that had banned abortion. Bailey thought about going there herself, but couldn't because she had Pru. She offered Addison use of the PRT for this purpose. ("When I Get to the Border")
On the day that the new clinic, which Bailey had named Elena Bailey Memorial Clinic for Reproductive Health in honor of her mother, was meant to open, she, Jo, and Carina were disappointed because the accreditation hadn't come through in time. Carina offered to take the scheduled patients into the hospital pro bono so they wouldn't go without care while they waited for the accreditation to come through. At the end of the day, when the accreditation came through, Jo, Bailey, and Carina opened the clinic, cutting the ribbon as Link took a picture of them and then they shared a drink to celebrate. ("Thunderstruck")
To expand the educational efforts, Bailey decided to open up a training day to physicians from around the country to come and learn procedures their own residencies weren't teaching them. Addison came back to town secretly to help with this. She'd been plagued by bad press because of her work, but remained committed to providing care to her patients.
As they started the training, Marcus Cole, their security guard, informed them that they had a large amount of protestors outside, a much larger crowd than they normally had. Addison believed her presence had intensified the protests, though she didn't know how they'd found her as she was vigilant about keeping her location private. Security recommended closing the clinic for the day, but they refused as it meant denying care to dozens. Teddy had security call for backup to they could remain open.
They continued teaching their new fellows until one of the protestors threw a brick through the window, hitting Benson Kwan in the head. They locked the clinic down, not allowing anyone in or out. Tia Marwood, one of the trainees, blamed herself for this as she had posted on social media that she'd be learning from Addison, giving away her location. She wanted to resign from the program, but Mika told her not to because her resignation would mean one less doctor willing to help.
Bailey called all the doctors together when patients started to get restless. She told them why she'd founded the clinic and said they all needed to lift each other up. She asked Addison to say a few words as well, but before she could, Marni called for them because her friend, Andra's water had broken.
Bailey found Addison hiding alone in a closet. They talked about how even the peaceful protestors were upsetting and Addison said she'd had to get a bulletproof vest and other OBs had suggested she start carrying a gun. She'd been doxxed and her husband and son had been forced into hiding for their protection. Despite this, she refused to quit because she knew patients needed her, though she admitted it was exhausting and terrifying.
As Andra's labor progressed, they were still unable to leave the clinic. Andra was upset to be giving birth to the sounds of screaming protestors, so Bailey led the doctors to sing to calm her down and drown out the sounds. Andra's baby got stuck on the way out, so Addison stepped in and had the others help her position Andra so they could deliver her baby safely.
Since incoming clinic patients were unable to access them, Teddy turned a portion of the ER into a clinic space so they could be treated.
Finally, the police were able to disperse the crowd and they were able to leave. Outside, Tia told Addison how much the training meant to her. She'd skipped her babymoon to be there. When Tia dropped her things on the road, Addison helped her pick them up just as a protestor accelerated into them. Tia took the brunt of the impact while Addison was clipped by the car. ("Training Day")
Addison and Tia were both loaded into ambulances and taken to the ER, where Addison was treated for a dislocated shoulder, while Tia had to have surgery for severe abdominal injuries, including an emergency c-section at 28 weeks. Teddy ordered a hospital-wide lockdown until law enforcement could confirm there was no longer a threat. ("Pick Yourself Up")
When Bailey learned that a clinic had opened nearby with a name that was intentionally similar to her clinic but was not staffed by doctors and wasn't providing abortion care, she and Carina decided to go undercover to try to get the clinic shut down. While they waited, Ben came in, so Carina pretended he was her husband and Bailey was her friend. Nancy brought Carina, Bailey, and Ben back to a room, where Carina said that she needed an abortion. Nancy said once they confirmed pregnancy, they could talk about options, but Carina repeated that she just needed an abortion. She gave Carina a pregnancy test and Carina used urine Bailey had taken from a pregnant co-worker to produce a positive result. Their hope was that they could trick Nancy, who was not a doctor, into giving medical advice so they could file a formal complaint with the state. When Nancy returned, they were unable to get her to give any medical advice. Carina repeated her request for an abortion and Nancy asked if that's what Ben wanted. Ben said he wanted what Carina wanted. Nancy said that some studies were being conducted investigating a link between abortions and an increased risk of developing cancer. Bailey then said that's different from studies actually showing a link. Ben asked if Nancy was a doctor and she said she was a pregnancy professional. Bailey told Nancy that she was a doctor and having an abortion didn't increase the risk of cancer. Nancy tried to get Bailey to wait outside, but Carina said she wanted Bailey to stay. She then led Carina, Ben, and Bailey to a closet that was full of baby supplies and said they'd provide whatever they needed for the first year. Carina told her that not everyone wanted to have children, but Nancy said they could put those children up for adoption. Ben told her that the foster system was already overwhelmed and asked if she ever checked on the kids she was forcing people to have. Carina then said that the US had the highest maternal mortality rate of any high-income country and yet Nancy never asked if she had a problem with a previous pregnancy. As an OB, she's seen women bleed out because of that, but Nancy had never seen that because she was just playing doctor. Nancy said that everything they were doing was legal and had security escort them out. Outside, they were face with protestors, holding signs to inform people that it wasn't a real clinic and no real doctors worked there. Bailey saw a woman approaching and gave her a card directing her to the real clinic. ("It's All Gonna Break")
In response to the attack on the clinic, they extended the security perimeter around the clinic to keep their patients and providers safe. However, when Bailey left work at the end of the day, someone slipped a flyer on Ben's windshield. It had a picture of Bailey along with her home address and personal phone number. The same paper was on every other car in the parking lot. ("Cowgirls Don't Cry") The flyers continued to show up and Bailey was overwhelmed by calls from unknown numbers. She decided to have Mika babysit her phone so she could work in peace. At the end of the day, when Bailey came back, Mika suggested that Bailey just turn off her phone, but Bailey couldn't do that because she was a wife and mother as well as a doctor. Bailey finally decided to find a rental home for her family to move to as well as changing her phone number and email address after someone sent her a picture of Tuck at his school. ("Shadow of Your Love") Additionally, Teddy had them increase security around the daycare to protect Pru, though Bailey decided to keep her out of daycare anyway. Instead, she had Lucas watch her. ("Mama Who Bore Me")
Addison returned to the hospital to restock the PRT and visit Connor Marwood, who was still in the NICU. Bailey and Addison commiserated on the stress that being constantly harassed caused. While she was there, Jonathan Cook came into the ER and specifically requested her as his doctor as he had trouble with his kidneys and read that she was the best for that. When scans showed that Jonathan had lied, Bailey went back to him and introduced herself. He said he'd been looking forward to meeting her and indicated that he knew things about her family. Then he lunged at her and called her a baby killer. Before he could harm Bailey, Benson jumped in and pinned him to the ground. After this attack, Bailey talked to Addison and vented her frustration about her family being unsafe and how awful those people were for threatening a four year old girl. Her mother always taught her to kill them with kindness, but she wanted to kill them with the truth. Addison suggested that might be able to do both. Teddy gathered the surgical staff and told them it was easier to hurt someone you don't know. She distributed lists of Bailey's most frequent callers and had them each take some to call them and speak to them respectfully in the hopes that they'd thing twice before calling again. Several of the doctors made calls as well as Maya and Vic. They shared Bailey's desire to keep her family safe and found common ground with them. At the end of the day, Bailey helped Addison restock the PRT and Addison admitted that she'd really come to check on Bailey, as she knew what she was going through. Addison then saw a note on one of the supply boxes indicating that Cristina had sent them. ("Gunpowder and Lead")
Bailey was invited to present that year's Catherine Fox Award, so she flew to Boston for the ceremony. After some serious turbulence on the flight, all the passengers were left shaken and grateful to have arrived unscathed. ("Wedding Bell Blues") The next day, at the ceremony, Bailey was surprised to see Meredith go on stage to present the award instead. She recognized other people on the stage as doctors she'd trained at the clinic. Meredith announced that for the first time ever, the award wouldn't be going to a surgical project or even to one of the nominated doctors. Instead, it was awarded to Bailey for her efforts to educated doctors in such a turbulent time for reproductive health care. Bailey started crying as she accepted her award. ("Happily Ever After?")
Characters Present[]
- Miranda Bailey
- Addison Forbes Montgomery
- Jo Wilson
- Carina DeLuca
- Richard Webber
- Owen Hunt
- Teddy Altman
- Simone Griffith
- Benson Kwan
- Jules Millin
- Mika Yasuda
- Lucas Adams
- Lucia Castelino
- Diamond Thompson
- Aaron
Notes and Trivia[]
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