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.
Read MoreFlorida—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.
Read MoreApril 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.
Read MorePregnancy 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 to talk with us about pregnancy criminalization, the child welfare system, and how Roe’s overturning further impacts rates of criminalization.
Read MoreThe 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.
Read MoreCalifornia, 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 justice lens and progress made in bridging gaps to care.
Read MoreParticularly 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 the near future.
Read MoreIn 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, invitro fertilization, and the concept of fetal personhood.
Read MorePer 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 and reproductive health and rights intertwine.
Read MoreFor 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.
Read MoreAs 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.
Read MorePoliticizing 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 Equality, sits down to talk with us about Project 2025—what is it, how it seeks to shape America, and what it means for LGBTQI+ rights and sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Read MoreWhite 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.
Read MoreThere 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 Biden administration.
Read MoreAbortion information, policies, and access are 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.
Read MoreA 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 SRHR care.
Read MoreThe 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 Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice and how it reflects the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Read MoreThe 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.
Read MoreEven 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.
Read MoreAs 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, confrontations, and questions.
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