I was implored by our fellow post to bring back a certain segment, and I think that this particular one actually in endures, not endoors, but it deserved. So we're going to go to Alabama, of all places where they have a step in the right direction, step.
In the right direction. Yes, step in the right direction. There, step step step in in the right direction. Yeah, Kelly, No, Rob has a story. Sorry, thanks, Cynthia.
No, that's me. Here we go. After Roe versus Wade was overturned in twenty twenty two, several states criminalized abortion. Among them was Alabama. After the overturning, I personally saw many people go online Facebook in the session say things like, you know, if you ever need a place to go while you see some doctors, you could hit me up. Clearly, we're creating an underground railroad sort of support network for people. Now these states where it was criminalized, you can criminalize
the mother. This is sad, but permissible under the new laws. The doctor again said, but piscible, permissible. But did you ever think that the Alabama's Attorney General, Steve Marshall, would
sue people out of his own state for conspiracy? However, federal judge Myron Thompson has ruled that the Attorney General Marshall cannot as that would interfere with their protected First Amendment rights, as well as the right to travel in the US of A. This story is from Metro by Sarah Hooper on April first of twenty twenty five.
Thank you, Rob, I appreciate that. So I want to go to the person who has also another womb.
Hey, Jay, is this good news? Is it good news?
I don't know. I mean the title of the article was major win for abortion rights in the US, and I would feel good about this outcome, but I just can't. Well, this is a big deal, Okay, it's a big deal for Alabama because abortion is flat out and there's no exceptions, not even for rape or incest, which also includes underage victims. Right,
it's like children, a little girl. But that is exactly why I cannot feel positive about this, Just because, oh wow, you're not going to get punished for helping someone you know, drive someone elsewhere for an abortion. This situation is still really really awful. They still have to drive somewhere else to get the procedure, and if you really think about it, it's really depressing because This means that the residents of Alabama have less abortion rights than women in the United
Arab Emirates, which is an Islamic country. They passed laws last year to allow women to get abortions if they're raped or in cases of incess. So you know, unfortunately, women in Alabama are alone half of the US now half with stays in the US have abortion bands that don't give any type of accesss for incense, including uh well lived like Texis, so many of the other southern
red states like Oklahoma, Luisiana, Tennessee. I mean, yeah, Alma obviously, Like I mean, remind me how this is happening in the so called land of the Free.
I mean, like, even if we put it to the states that do give an allowances for raping incests, a lot of times they don't allowances for rape and incests. I mean, like we covered a story about a young person who was thirteen years old who was raped in Mississippi, where they have on the books you're supposed to give allowances for raping incests, and they didn't allow it for her.
She ended up having a baby because her mother was not did not have enough money to take her to the nearest place for her to get an abortion, which was in Chicago, Illinois, which is over nine hours away. So there's always some type of caveats when it comes to some of these, like you know, trigger laws as they were called once Rob Waite was overturned. But Kelly, is this anything new for Alabama?
No, No, not at all. Alabama has a history of getting involved with other states laws that this is all the way back in eighteen fifty a. They were one of the states that arguing for the Fugitive Slave Act to be passed so that a runaway slave who had made it to a free state where they were saved could be put in chains and hauled back to be chatteled once again in states just like Alabama. So this shit is nothing new to them, nothing new at all. And what really gets me about this is the GOP's
continued proclamation of being for states rights. They obviously don't give a shit about states rights if those rights go against their own agenda, as they do in this case. This is one more case of the total hypocrisy and within this polytical machine, and it's this open hypocrisy, open hypocrisy like this that creates the distrust in the government, which actually could be a good thing in some ways. All you need, folks, is faith in the system. Yes,
faith in the system. It's what keeps them in power. And think back to our regularly scheduled show.
I think you're not fully respecting Alabama's states rights to travel in other states that if they had just had the correct rights to begin with, we wouldn't be here, right, But what's the unfortunate part, Rob, Well, the unfortunate part is back to it's similar to Oklahoma. It's it's the continuing chipping of trying to just get away with more
and more shit. Like the reason so the reason why this is actually astounding to me is because it's it's like worse than Walter I believe, right, because at least they're not loyal here, Like presumably they know the law and the jurisdiction of any given power is one of the first things that you have to establish and abide by.
So like the fact that they want to just completely ignore their own jurisdiction and go beyond that is like it's worse than overreach, right, Like it's heinous, it's insane, I I it's it is Harry Potter and the goal of this bastard, like that's that's what it is.
Well, I have a question for all of you, in what ways can community organizations because, like we establish in another episode this week, that change does not happen from the ground from the down, but from the ground up, So how can communicate So in what ways can community organizations continue to support reproductive rights in states with extreme band aj? I would like for you to start and then Rob and then Kelly again.
You know when we discussed this in one of the last episodes that we quoted, and I think that the main thing that people can do is to continue to push the lawmakers that are putting out these laws, Like even if you live in a red state, still continue to write letters, to show up at the door of your representatives. Okay, I'm sorry, like their public office. Don't
go to their house. Please, don't be a stalker. So yeah, you know, show up, like stand up, speak up, don't stay quiet, and you know, just take it, don't just take it. That's the best way that we can hope as individuals we can help these community organizations to help these people that are you know, who's whose rights are being taken away.
It's going to be hard because ultimately, really the only thing they can do in my mind is vote out to people and get other people voted in. The reason why they wanted to try to prosecute people out of state who are helping the travel due to conspiracy. The reason why they can to do it is because it's outside of their jurisdiction. However, if the community within Alabama are trying to help the people get abortions, then they are perfectly within the state of Alabama to be prosecuted
for conspiracy. So that's insane. So yeah, do the voting, get them out, and then if you're feeling up to it and you're spicy, then like literally create another underground railroad to hide and keep secret these people who need those things, because that's the only other way they're going to be able to do it without actually being prosecuted for conspiracy.
Listen, I need everybody to read the story of Harriet Tutman if they really want to understand the underground railroad, how it worked and how also human beings powered it in order to get x LLave safe. And I agree with the point where and I know that, like you know, all you black acts that actually have watched this youse, do not like beat you down for like making equivocation of the underground slave underground railroad with you know what's
happened today. But you know, even as the Bible says there's no new thing under the sun, there is a such thing that us, the people that's on the ground, can actually set up network to be able to get people to safety in order for them to get the services they need. You know, back in eighteen fifty, eighteen forty, eighteen thirty, it was getting slave, getting x slaves to freedom, you know, whether it's to the north or even all
the way up to Canada. Nowadays it's helping those who have the ability to become pregnant get to states where they don't have these draconian laws that would keep them from being able to make decisions on what they can and cannot do over their bodies. And I believe that it's contingent on all of us who call ourselves humanists, call ourselves activated in this space to help in some kind of way within their capacity to make this happen. Kelly, what are your thoughts on that?
You know what, I have a lot of thoughts here. One we were talking about what we can do in the community. One of the big movers and shakers in the community has been Planned Parenthood, and they have been trying to get rid of that for years, and I'm afraid that they are going to Now there's a bill in Congress right now to defund it. This is something the GOP has wanted for a long fucking time, and they've got the ability to do it, So I think
that's going to happen. So that so one of the things that we need to do as a community is to step up and help them stay in operation. They are going to need funding. So if you're looking for things in the community to do, help fund Planned Parenthood. Another thing I wanted to mention was these these lawsuits that these here against people that they have no jurisdiction of. We talked earlier this week about Ryan Walters bringing a lawsuit that really has no constitutional bearing, and and they
these guys are not stupid. They know they are not going to win these lawsuits, but they make headlines, they're in the news. I'm out there, I'm out there being a Christian warrior. I'm on the front lines. I'm fighting for you and your and the Bible so that we can put God before everything, and that's why they're doing this.
That's exactly why they're doing this. So I mean that's maybe one of the things we need to do is fight back against that message that there's a reason why we don't want the Bible out there in front of our government. Right, and then you mentioned that the changing of the underground railroad, and something I've been saying for once now is that we might have to have a rainbow railroad going up to Canada. So and then I hate. I'm like, right near Canada, I'm sure I could find
some boats to take people across Lake Superior. So I'm volunteering to be the last stop on the railroad.
Listen, listen, I am all about you. Guys. If you are in the States right now, find a place where they sell really good poutine because you're gonna need it if you decide to go ahead, you know, and get used to seeing and knowing what that really means. But you know, if you guys, this is give me a
little breathing. I do have. So, in a critical win for human rights and bodily autonomy, a federal judge has ruled that Alabama cannot prosecute individuals who help women for people who are able to become pregnant travel out of state for abortion care. This decision affirms what many of us already know. Basic freedoms, including the right to travel and the right to offer help, do not vanish at
the state line. Attorney General Steve marshall attempt to weaponize conspiracy law to intimidate helpers was not about protecting law. It was about punishing dissent and expanding control.
If it had.
Succeeded, it would have set a chilling precedent that a state could oppose its narrow ideology far beyond its borders, even on actions perfectly legal elsewhere. This really reminds that reproductive freedom, like a civil like all civil rights, doesn't depend on geography and all and for all organizations like Yellowhammer Fund, it means that they can once again support
low income people without fear of being criminal. Let's be clear, no one should face prosecution for helping someone access medical care, and seeking an abortion is absolutely medical care, and no state has the right to trap its citizens within its own ideology. This fight isn't just about abortion. It's about our shared freedom, dignity, and moral