Episodes

The Supreme Court has heard two cases on transgender women and girl’s ability to participate in school sports after states have issued categorical bans on trans women playing on sports teams that match their gender identity. Madiba Dennie, author of The Originalism Trap: How Extremists Stole the Constitution and How We the People Can Take It Back and Deputy Editor and Senior Contributor at the legal commentary outlet Balls and Strikes, sits down to talk with us about these cases as part of the broad, comprehensive attacks on trans people’s health and wellbeing.

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This week’s special bonus pod features the abortion story of Hannah, a full-spectrum doula, an abortion doula, a childbirth educator, and a social worker.

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The Title X Family Planning Program was created in 1970 to fund reproductive health and contraceptive services and remains the federal government’s only dedicated source of family planning funding. Since his first term in office, Trump and his administration have repeatedly targeted the Title X Program, most recently by changing the application process for funding. Clare Coleman, President and CEO of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA), joins us to talk about what the latest funding announcement means for Title X and its grant recipients, and the lawsuit that NFPRHA, the ACLU, and FHCCP are pursuing against the Trump administration’s blatant contradiction of the Title X statute.

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The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) is a federal law that protects the right to emergency healthcare, including abortion. There has been, post-Dobbs, a clash between these federal protections and states with abortion bans. Amani Echols, Senior Policy Analyst for Maternal Health at the National Partnership for Women and Families and Ashley Kurzweil, Senior Policy Analyst for Reproductive Health and Rights at the National Partnership for Women and Families, sit down to talk with us about this unleashing of chaos and confusion around whether and when emergency abortion care is permitted.

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The most recent numbers show that two-thirds of abortions in the U.S. are medication abortions, while 29 percent of all U.S. abortions were telehealth medication abortions. Dr. Angel Foster, researcher at the University of Ottawa in the Faculty of Health Sciences, global abortion researcher, and co-founder of the Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project (MAP) sits down to talk with us about the work that MAP performs and the importance of shield laws for reproductive health care and gender-affirming care.

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Art and activism intersect! Shannon Downey, full-time art activist, author, and educator, sits down to talk with us about art and activism and her new activism handbook for artists, crafters, and creators, Let’s Move the Needle, providing a how-to manual for using artistic skills to contribute to community building.

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Tomorrow is the fourth anniversary of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. Brittany Fonteno, President and CEO of the National Abortion Federation (NAF) and the National Abortion Hotline, sits down to talk with us about NAF’s new report, which shows a marked uptick in anti-abortion violence in the years since Roe’s overturning.

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Pronatalism is an ideology, cultural orientation, and emerging policy framework promoting higher birthrates by framing reproduction as a social duty or moral good. Oftentimes, pronatalism can emphasize certain gender roles and can be rooted in extreme nationalism and patriarchal ideals. Varina Winder, the former Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor in the Secretary's Office of Global Women's Issues at the U.S. Department of State and co-founder of the ARCH Collaborative, sits down to talk with us about the ways in which pronatalist ideology is present in the U.S. and what a true pro-family vision should look like.

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Telling pregnant people what to do and enforcing pregnancy criminalization has been a decades-long threat.  Dr. Grace Howard sits down with us to discuss her new book, which “traces the long history of state attempts to regulate and control people who have the capacity for pregnancy--from the early twentieth century's white supremacist eugenics to the end of Roe and the ever-increasing criminalization of abortion across the United States.”

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The ability to control your body and when, how, and if you get pregnant and raise children is a fundamental freedom that should be recognized by the law. Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward, sits down to talk with us about the direct connection between the opportunities and support that women and girls have and the strengths of democracies, and how the U.S. (among other countries) is clearly experiencing a democratic backslide.

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We repeat: your reason is the right reason.

For this incredibly special part four of our storytellers podcast series, tune in to hear the abortion stories of Candace and Trenece -- abortion storytellers from We Testify. 

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Need a breakdown of the recent ruling on nationwide mifepristone access at the Supreme Court? Imani Gandy, Executive Producer, Legal Content & Culture with Rewire News Group, co-host of podcast Boom! Lawyered and host of podcast B*tch Listen and Jessica Mason Pieklo, Executive Producer, Legal Content & Advocacy with Rewire News Group and co-host of podcast Boom! Lawyered have got you covered.

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Your reason is the right reason.

For this incredibly special part three of our storytellers podcast series, tune in to hear the abortion stories of Dr. Brendane A. Tynes and Kiah-- abortion storytellers from We Testify.

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Indiana was the first state to sign, pass, and enforce an abortion ban after the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court decision, which went into effect in 2023 (Missouri saw immediate enforcement via a trigger ban). Now, almost everyone must leave the state to access an abortion. Forest Beeley, Program Director for All Options, which runs Indiana’s singular abortion fund, sits down to talk with us about Indiana’s current sexual and reproductive health and rights landscape.

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Doulas, a non-medical birth professional, provide emotional, physical and social support and guidance through different aspects of sexual and reproductive health-- including labor and delivery, the prenatal and postpartum period, and during abortion care, miscarriage, or stillbirth. Amy Chen, Senior Attorney at the National Health Law Program, sits down to talk with us about the importance and benefits of doulas, Medicaid coverage of this care, and the challenges the U.S. faces in getting closer to a more supported, equitable birthing reality.

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“Family values” brings up a very specific image rooted in the narrow idea of what a family is—such as a white, heterosexual marriage with children and a picket fence. But this image leaves out a lot of people, and so many families do not look like the image of the “nuclear” family that is often uplifted. Preston Mitchum, attorney, advocate, activist, and sometimes-reality-tv-personality, sits down to talk with us about conservative definitions of “family” and “family values“ and how those concepts shift into real, harmful policy.  

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Across the spectrum, there are escalating attacks on women’s rights and freedoms, including attacks on the abortion pill, birth control, women’s suffrage, no fault divorce, higher education, and more. Courtney Hagle, Research Director at Media Matters for America, sits down to talk with us about the not new, but increasingly violent, rhetoric against women.

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A flurry of updates from the U.S. legal landscape have expanded recently; from cases examining birthright citizenship and conversion therapy to Pam Bondi’s bye-bye, Jessica Mason Pieklo, Executive Producer of Legal Content and Advocacy at Rewire News Group and host of Boom! Lawyered, sits down to talk with us about both the latest developments at the Supreme Court and Trump’s ousting of Pam Bondi, former U.S. Attorney General.

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After the Dobbs case (which overturned Roe v. Wade) was decided, several grassroots activists in various states appealed to the ballot constitutional amendment to protect reproductive freedom in their state constitutions. Brigitte Amiri, Deputy Director at the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project, sits down to talk with us about recent reproductive freedom amendments, equal rights amendments, and current litigation around the U.S.

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Comprehensive sex education can help young people navigate relationships, traverse sexual and reproductive decision-making, and learn more about their own minds and bodies. Yet, sex education often varies in the U.S. from state-to-state, school district-to-school district, and teacher-to-teacher. Callie Simon, Executive Director of SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change, sits down to talk with us about the importance of achieving comprehensive sex education and the coordinated opposition of the anti-rights minority.

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