Social media and limited national standards around sex education means sexual and reproductive health misinformation and disinformation can run rampant. Especially when it comes to birth control, the wrong information can lead to knowledge gaps and limit access to contraceptive care. Dr. Raegan McDonald-Mosley , CEO of Power to Decide and practicing physician, sits down to talk with us about mis- and disinformation around birth control. Recent research from Power to Decide found that, while 38% ...
May 07, 2024•34 min•Ep. 210
Trigger warning: In this episode we talk about sexual assault and descriptions of unsafe abortions. Please engage with challenging content with caution. 45% of the 73 million abortions a year are unsafe. One of the reasons they are unsafe is due to U.S. policies that place restrictions on how family planning-related foreign assistance is used. Jodi Enda , Washington Bureau Chief and Senior Correspondent for The Fuller Project, sits down to talk with us about the multiple tools used by the U.S.--...
Apr 30, 2024•40 min•Ep. 209
The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA, is a statute passed by Congress in 1986 to ensure that nobody who is experiencing a medical emergency is turned away from receiving health care. But this week, the Supreme Court will hear arguments challenging EMTALA as it relates to emergency abortion care. Katie O’Connor , Director of Federal Abortion Policy at the National Women’s Law Center sits down to talk with us about the potential impacts of this ruling. Under EMTALA, an emergenc...
Apr 23, 2024•31 min•Ep. 208
Florida—a state with the third largest population in the U.S. and the second largest abortion provider in the U.S.—has recently allowed a state Supreme Court decision that will ban abortion after six weeks gestation . Lauren Brenzel, Campaign Director with Floridians Protecting Freedom sits down to talk with us about the inner workings of this case and how it will further impact abortion access for those in the state and across the country. After this policy goes into effect on May 1st, 2024, pa...
Apr 16, 2024•26 min•Ep. 207
April 11-17, 2024, marks Black Maternal Health week. Dr. Monica McLemore , Professor of Child, Family, and Population Health Nursing at the University of Washington and Director of the Manning Price Spratlen Center for Anti-Racism and Equity in Nursing sits down to talk with us about the state of maternal morbidity and mortality in the U.S., the upcoming Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) Supreme Court case, and achieving comprehensive reproductive justice. Black women are...
Apr 09, 2024•46 min•Ep. 206
Pregnancy criminalization—often rooted in fetal personhood laws and anti-drug sentiment—has a long history and applies criminal suspicions to those who have pregnancies resulting in miscarriages or stillbirths. Lourdes Rivera, President of Pregnancy Justice and Dr. Dorothy Roberts , professor of Africana Studies, Law, and Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania and author of Torn Apart: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families—and How Abolition Can Build a Safer World , sit down ...
Apr 02, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 205
The Comstock Act, a 150-year-old law named after “anti-vice” crusader Anthony Comstock, passed in 1873. It allowed enforcement power to investigate the U.S. mail for items of an “illicit,” “lewd,” or “immoral” purpose, including items related to abortion. Greer Donley , Associate Professor and Reproductive Justice Scholar at University of Pittsburgh Law School, sits down to talk with us about the Comstock Act—what is it, what it means, and how anti-abortion activists are working to revive it. To...
Mar 26, 2024•33 min•Ep. 204
California, a self-dubbed “reproductive freedom state,” scored an A+ on rePROs Fight Back’s forthcoming 50-state report card on reproductive health and rights. However, numerous barriers to abortion– a form of basic healthcare– persist in every state, California included. Jessica Pinckney Gil, Executive Director at ACCESS REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE, California's statewide abortion fund, sits down to talk with us about the fragmentary landscape of abortion access in the state through a reproductive jus...
Mar 19, 2024•35 min•Ep. 203
Particularly after the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, reproductive health, rights, and justice can feel very doom-and-gloom. Yet, states around the country are continuing to undertake progressive and opportunistic legislative advancement. Jennifer Driver , Senior Director of Reproductive Rights with the State Innovation Exchange, sits down to talk with us about exciting state-level movement, how to successfully work with legislators, and what wins we may expect to see in ...
Mar 12, 2024•32 min•Ep. 202
In a recent decision, the Alabama Supreme Court declared frozen embryos the same status as people. The decision, which is not grounded in law, references theology and the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case as a citation. Jessica Mason Pieklo , Senior Vice President and Executive Editor at Rewire News Group and cohost of Boom! Lawyered, sits down to talk with us about the recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling, in vitro fertilization, and the concept of fetal personhood. This ruling s...
Mar 05, 2024•35 min•Ep. 201
Per year in the U.S., there are around 4 million births, between 850,000 - 1,000,0000 abortions, and 18,000 - 22,000 private domestic infant adoptions. Gretchen Sisson , Sociologist in Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) at the University of San Francisco and author of Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood , sits down to talk to us about the history of American domestic adoption, busts some adoption myths, and underlines how adoption ...
Feb 27, 2024•48 min•Ep. 200
For decades, abortion funds have worked tirelessly to bridge the gaps in access for people who needed abortion care. Their very existence highlights the fact that Roe failed to protect and address the needs of many communities marginalized by systems of oppression. Lexis Dotson-Dufault , Executive Director of the Abortion Fund of Ohio (AFO), sits down to talk with us about her first abortion, the importance of reproductive justice, and why Roe was never enough. Having grown up in a conservative ...
Feb 20, 2024•36 min•Ep. 199
As Valentine’s Day approaches, we’re talking about the ultimate sexual and reproductive health and rights topic-- pleasure! Having researched how Black women experience and internalize pleasure, Lorraine Lacroix-Williamson , public health researcher, sits down to talk with us about sexual pleasure, how it fits into the sexual and reproductive health and rights umbrella, and how it relates to public health. Stigma, purity culture, mis- and dis-information and limited sex education act as barriers...
Feb 13, 2024•43 min•Ep. 198
Politicizing independent institutions, spreading misinformation, aggrandizing and consolidating executive power, weakening checks and balances, quashing criticism and dissent, marginalizing and restricting rights of specific communities, corrupting election, and stoking violence are patterns right out of authoritarian playbook. These patterns are written all over Project 2025, an initiative out of the Heritage Foundation. Beirne Roose-Snyder , Senior Policy Fellow at the Council for Global Equal...
Feb 06, 2024•53 min•Ep. 197
White supremacist, Christian nationalist extremists have infiltrated state government on all levels in Idaho, which has created the political environment that led to abortion bans in the state. Garnet Henderson , Senior Multiplatform Reporter for Rewire News Group and host and producer of ACCESS: A Podcast About Abortion, sits down to talk to us about her 10-day reporting trip to the state of Idaho and what she uncovered. Idaho, which was one of the first states to ban abortion outright after th...
Jan 30, 2024•33 min•Ep. 196
There are a number of provisions in federal statutes that allow providers and hospitals the ability to refuse to provide care, or the information a patient may need to get care elsewhere, if the provider objects on moral or religious grounds. Katie O’Connor , Director of Federal Abortion Policy at the National Women’s Law Center, sits down to talk with us about the history of refusal statutes and rules, what it looks like to be a patient up against refusals, and the new refusal rules out of the ...
Jan 23, 2024•30 min•Ep. 195
Abortion information, policies, and access is always changing. Ariella Messing, founder and Executive Director of the Online Abortion Resource Squad (OARS), sits down to talk with us about the r/abortion subreddit, a landscape of constantly shifting information, and navigating abortion mis- and disinformation on the internet. The Online Abortion Resource Squad was born of a Slack channel and has since shifted to run the abortion subreddit, r/abortion. OARS has provided information throughout the...
Jan 16, 2024•48 min•Ep. 194
A variety of court cases, which have the ability to severely restrict, limit, and criminalize sexual and reproductive health care—such as abortion— are circulating throughout the U.S. Jessica Mason Pieklo, Senior Vice President and Executive Editor, at Rewire News Group and co-host of Rewire News Group's podcast Boom! Lawyered, sits down to talk with us about current court cases around the country and what these cases may mean for protecting basic SHRH care. The pillars of these court cases incl...
Jan 09, 2024•47 min•Ep. 193
The Blueprint for Sexual and Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice is a federal policy agenda that briefs every incoming administration on how to expand and protect domestic and global sexual and reproductive healthcare. Caitlin Horrigan , Senior Director of Global Advocacy for Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Candace Gibson , Director of Government Relations at the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, sit down to talk with us about the 2023 Blueprint for Sexual and...
Jan 02, 2024•37 min•Ep. 192
The needs of LGBTQI+ people to live safe, healthy, and fulfilling lives are as important as the are universally necessary. Vivian Topping, Director of Advocacy and Civic Engagement at the Equality Federation sits down to talks with us about achieving LGBTQI+ justice, what a just world for LGBTQI+ folks looks like, and some hopes for the new year. To support and enhance the lives of those in the LGBTQI+ community, people need access to healthcare, job training, stable housing, and more. Unfortuna...
Dec 19, 2023•34 min•Ep. 191
Even years before the overturning of Roe v. Wade , reproductive health and rights organizations were noticing that their abortion content posts were being removed, suspended, shadow banned, flagged, and subject to advertising suspension. Jane Eklund , Tech and Reproductive Rights Fellow at Amnesty International USA, sits down to talk with us about abortion content digital suppression on social media platforms. Across social media platforms, abortion-related content is often removed or interfered...
Dec 12, 2023•41 min•Ep. 190
As the holiday season continues and people sit down with their family and friends around dinner tables and fireplaces, personal question and general conversations about current events—some related to sexual and reproductive health and rights and transgender health and rights—may arise. Erin Matson , Co-founder, President, and CEO of Reproaction, sits down to talk with us about how to have difficult conversations, when to engage, and how to build up your boundaries during conversations, confronta...
Dec 05, 2023•38 min•Ep. 189
From the history of how the rePROs Fight Back podcast began to some behind-the-scenes sneak peaks, Tarah Demant , Interim National Director of Programs, Advocacy, and Government Affairs at Amnesty International USA, asks host Jennie Wetter a collection of ask me anything (AMA) questions. Links Amnesty International USA on Twitter Amnesty International USA on Facebook Tarah Demant on Twitter Jennie Wetter on Twitter Plan C Abortionfinder.org Ineedana.com Repro Legal Helpline Repro Legal Defense F...
Nov 28, 2023•41 min•Ep. 188
November 15, 2023, is #ThxBirthControl Day! Everyone deserves access to an array of birth control methods that works best for their body, their life, and their goals. Rachel Fey , Vice President of Policy and Strategic Partnerships at Power to Decide, sits down to talk with us about the importance of accessible contraception and why we should keep ab eye out for attacks to birth control. Misinformation and disinformation about birth control has been circulating for a long time and continues to s...
Nov 14, 2023•34 min•Ep. 187
Gun violence prevention and domestic violence are inextricably linked. And today, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case, U.S. v Rahimi , that could potentially determine the constitutionality of a gun violence prevention law that has saved millions of lives. Sabrina Talukder, Director of the Women’s Initiative at the Center for American Progress, sits down to talk with us about this upcoming Supreme Court case and its implications for those experiencing domestic violence. When there is a firea...
Nov 07, 2023•40 min•Ep. 186
In the wake of the Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade , abortion access has become dependent on one’s location. Accessing an abortion involves considerations like employer-sponsored healthcare coverage and taking time off of work. Barbara Camens , union side labor attorney, sits down to talk with us about the importance of access to affordable, comprehensive reproductive health care as part of the collective bargaining process. 25 million women if reproductive age now live in a state t...
Oct 31, 2023•34 min•Ep. 185
The culture of fear that the anti-abortion movement uses also underlines the anti-queer and anti-transgender movement. Garnet Henderson , Senior Multiplatform Reporter for Rewire News Group and host and producer of ACCESS: A Podcast About Abortion, sits down to talk with us about how these two movements are connected and how anti-rights actors may influence access to gender-affirming care in the near future. A year since the dismantling of Roe v. Wade , 25 million women of reproductive age now a...
Oct 24, 2023•40 min•Ep. 184
The Green Wave movement has swept through Latin America and has increased the liberalization of abortion law. Still, criminalization, and medical privacy and medical secrecy concerns can impact someone’s access to care or have patients and professionals facing prison sentences. Gloria Orrego-Hoyos, fellow with the Health and Human Rights initiative at Georgetown Law’s O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, sits down to talk with us about the status of criminalization, medical priv...
Oct 17, 2023•33 min•Ep. 183
Abortions later in pregnancy can occur for a variety of reasons, and the later in pregnancy an abortion is needed, the more barriers patients face in accessing care. Many people in the U.S. who are seeking an abortion are also struggling to piece together resources to pay for care which pushes the timeline for access back farther each week. Dr. Diane Horvath , OBGYN, and Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer at Partners in Abortion Care, sits down to talk with us about the truths and misconceptio...
Oct 10, 2023•34 min•Ep. 182
As an abortion care worker and doula, Hannah Matthews has seen a plethora of abortion journeys and responses. And while statistically nearly everyone knows someone who has or will access an abortion in their lifetime, one-note narratives bolster assumptions and we are awash in a sea of anti-abortion stigma. Hannah Matthews , abortion clinic worker, community care worker, doula, and author, sits down to talk with us about her new book, You or Someone You Love: Reflections from an Abortion Doula ,...
Oct 03, 2023•41 min•Ep. 181
