On Monday, November 1st, 2021, the Supreme Court heard arguments on Texas’s extreme and dangerous abortion ban, SB8. Ianthe Metzger, Director of State Media Campaigns with the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, sits down to talk with us about abortion access in Texas, the Texas SCOTUS case, and the upcoming Mississippi case in December that could threaten the very foundation of Roe v. Wade.
Read MorePurity culture, or the expectation that women remain sexually “pure,” is widespread throughout evangelical communities. Purity culture stems from the idea that men are inherently sexual beings and that women are not, placing the burden on women to be the gatekeepers of sexuality in evangelical communities, as well as to “control” the desires of men. Becca Andrews, reporter with Mother Jones Magazine, talks to us about purity culture and sexual assault at Christian colleges, with an in-depth look at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago.
Read MoreYoung people deserve access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive healthcare—but those needs aren’t always easy to acquire in the United States. Diana Thu-Thao Rhodes, Vice President of Policy, Partnerships, and Organizing at Advocates for Youth, sits down to talk with us about the barriers young people face when in need of sex education and sexual and reproductive health services.
Read MoreOn September 1st, 2021, Texas effectively banned abortion in the state. Amy Hagstrom Miller, founder and CEO of Whole Woman’s Health and Whole Woman’s Health Alliance, sits down to talk to us about the tremendous stress that Texas’s new legislation has already had on patients, abortion providers, clinic staff, and abortion funds.
Read MoreAfghanistan’s fall to the Taliban and the destruction caused to Haiti by a 7.92 magnitude earthquake have created two simultaneously unfolding humanitarian situations. Rachel Moynihan, Advocacy and Communications Specialist at the United Nations, sits down with us to discuss the work that UNFPA does to support and expand access to sexual and reproductive health and rights for populations in humanitarian settings, and how UNFPA is assisting in Afghanistan and Haiti specifically.
Read MoreAs Afghanistan falls to the Taliban, a humanitarian crisis is quickly unfolding in the country. Hundreds of thousands of individuals have been displaced, with women and girls making up 80 percent of those displaced individuals. Gayatri Patel, Vice President for External Relations at the Women’s Refugee Commission, sits down to talk with us about the situation unfolding in Afghanistan, what it means for women and girls, and what we can do to help.
Read MoreIt’s no secret that 2021 has seen endless attacks on abortion access. Most notably, Texas is attempting to not only ban abortion at six weeks but allow anyone in the U.S. to sue anyone involved in providing abortion care or helping someone in Texas access abortion care. Jessica Mason Pieklo, Senior Vice President and Executive Editor at Rewire News Group and co-host of Boom! Lawyered podcast, talks to us about the abortion ban out of Texas and the critical Mississippi case making its way in front of the Supreme Court in the fall.
Read MoreIt’s no secret that state legislatures across the country are working tirelessly to restrict access to abortion care. From forcing patients to travel to neighboring states to stigma-based counseling sessions, accessing an abortion comes with countless hurdles. Jackie Blank, Federal Legislative Strategist and Campaign Manager for the Women’s Health Protection Act Campaign at the Center for Reproductive Rights, talks to us about how the Women’s Health Protection Act will ensure reproductive choice, bodily autonomy, and access to care in a time where abortion faces an unprecedented attack.
Read MoreReproductive health and the Catholic church have been heavily featured in the current news—from the Fulton v. Philadelphia Supreme Court case to the U.S Conference of Catholic Bishops moving to deny President Joe Biden, who is Catholic, the sacrament of communion. Jamie Manson, President of Catholics for Choice, talks to us about these recent instances of the Catholic Church’s reach over sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Read MoreWhen many people hear the term ‘self-managed abortion,’ they may think unsafe abortion or pre-Roe v. Wade methods of terminating a pregnancy. Nowadays, self-managed medication abortion is extremely safe, effective, and can be done in the comfort and privacy of one’s own home. Erin Matson, Executive Director of Reproaction, sits down to talk with us about the myths, barriers to care, and the actions folks can take around self-managed abortion.
Read MoreThe Global Gag Rule has been intermittently preventing global communities from accessing comprehensive healthcare for the last 37 years. This Global Gag Rule Repeal Week of Action, it’s important to recognize that ending this harmful policy is extremely urgent. Rebecca Dennis, Senior Legislative Policy Analyst at PAI, sits down to update us on the Global Gag Rule, the impacts it has had around the world, and what we can do to make sure it is repealed once and for all.
Read MoreDid you know that in a 2016 referendum, 86% of D.C. residents voted in favor of statehood? Dr. Serina Floyd, OB/GYN and Medical Director/Vice President of Medical Services at Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, D.C. and Kory Stuer, Public Affairs Manager at Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, D.C, sit down to talk with us about the importance of statehood for Washington, D.C., and what it would mean for the reproductive health, rights, and justice of D.C. residents.
Read MoreUnder the Trump administration, global LGBTQI+ health and rights faced an unprecedented assault. Andrea Gillespie, Sexual Health and Rights Policy Advisor with the American Jewish World Service (AJWS), sits down to talk with us about progress made by the Biden-Harris administration and what pieces of legislation we can advance to prevent backsliding.
Read MoreWhat does a world that has achieved abortion justice look like? It has access to a full spectrum of reproductive health care, where abortion is affordable, accessible, safe, de-stigmatized, without barriers, and never based on income or zip code. Daniela Ochoa Diaz, Federal Strategies Manager with All* Above All, sits down to talk with us about what we need to accomplish to reach abortion justice for all.
Read MoreOn Monday, May 17th, the Supreme Court announced that they would hear a court case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (JWHO), out of Mississippi that seeks to ban almost all abortion at 15 weeks or later. Dr. Daniel Grossman, obstetrician/gynecologist, Professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at the University of California San Francisco, and Director of a policy-based research program within the OB/GYN Department entitled Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH), sits down with us in this emergency podcast episode to discuss the gestational bans at the center of the case that strikes at the heart of Roe.
Read MoreNote: This episode was recorded before the Supreme Court agreed to hear Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, a challenge to Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban.
While Roe v. Wade may be the law of the land, abortion has always been inaccessible and a right on paper only for so many in the United States. Since the passage of Roe, there have been 1,200 abortion restrictions enacted, with 2021 on track to be one of the worst years for abortion restrictions. Jamille Fields-Allsbrook, Director of Women’s Health and Rights at the Center for American Progress and Nora Ellmann, Research Associate for Women’s Health and Rights at the Center for American Progress, sit down to talk with us about what actions need to be taken to ensure a proactive abortion agenda for the U.S. from their report, A Proactive Abortion Agenda: Federal and State Policies To Protect and Expand Access.
Read MoreWe have just passed 100 days of the Biden-Harris Administration! Christina Krysinski, Counsel and Senior Manager of Policy at NARAL Pro-Choice America sits down to talk with us about the reproductive health and rights victories achieved during this period, as well as what the administration can do more of to ensure health and rights for all.
Read MoreLast week the Biden took two actions to expand access to reproductive health care: the FDA lightening restrictions to medication abortion access during the pandemic and the Biden administration beginning its rollback of Trump’s harmful Title X program rules. Deepika Srivastava, Policy Analyst at Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Nina Serriane, Legislative Affairs Manager at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, celebrate the recent changes in access to medication abortion and the lifting of restrictions on the national Title X program with us.
Read MoreApril 11 – 17, 2021, marks the fourth annual Black Maternal Health Week. In this bonus episode, Dr. Jamila Perritt, board certified OB/GYN and President and CEO of Physicians for Reproductive Health and Dr. Mishka S. Peart, OB/GYN and fellow with Physicians for Reproductive Health, talk to us about the importance of highlighting and discussing the disparities in abortion, contraception, and maternal health access and outcomes for Black people in the United States
Read MoreLGBTQ+ people, overall, lack equal rights and access in the United States. In fact, in most of the U.S., LGBTQ+ people face discrimination in housing, credit, public accommodations, jury service, and other public arenas that don’t directly involve marriage or employment. It’s also no secret that Republicans around the country have been passing legislation for years that attacks the health and rights of transgender people. Charlotte Clymer, writer, LGBTQ+ advocate, and Director of Communications and Strategy at Catholics for Choice, talks to us about how state attacks on transgender rights are contributing to the lack of protections for LGBTQ+ people in the U.S.
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