Sexual and reproductive health doesn’t disappear in humanitarian settings. People don’t stop needing obstetric care, getting pregnant, needing birth control, needing safe abortion care, or needing gender-based violence support in emergency situations. In fact, 65% of all maternal deaths, 50% of all newborn deaths, and 51% of all stillbirths occur in humanitarian settings. Judith Starkulla, Head of Office for UNFPA in Gaza, shares her thoughts on the SRHR needs of those in the region.UNFPA supplies medicine, dignity kits, gender-based violence services, and specialized healthcare to hospitals and individual patients. Currently, in Gaza, health infrastructure has been ruined and many people have nowhere to turn to for care. Only 3 maternity hospitals are functioning across Gaza, and they are overcrowded with people needing assistance. Stress, hunger, and fear are impacting mothers and children. Yet, UNFPA cannot deliver aid while Gaza continues to face bombardment and closed border crossings, and medicines and supplies have been destroyed by fire and explosions. Support the Show.Follow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

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% of young people received information on contraception from social media, many of the same people wanted to receive that information from a health provider. Additional research found that 28% of young people who haven't received birth control information in the last year did not believe that birth control was safe. Examples of mis- and disinformation often include links between oral contraception and cancer, contraception and fertility, and the conflation of contraception and abortion (for example, many politicians compare emergency contraception and IUDs to abortifacients). Correcting mis- and disinformation surrounding contraception will open more doors for those requiring care and increase patient knowledge and confidence.  Support the Show.Follow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

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.-- including the Helms amendment and the Global Gag Rule-- and how far their harmful reach truly extends.  These unsafe abortions result in approximately 39,000 preventable maternal deaths and millions of complications each year. The U.S. is the biggest healthcare funder in the world, as well as the biggest funder of family planning assistance. Still, The Helms amendment and the Global Gag Rule both impact U.S. funding and U.S. global health assistance as it relates to abortion care, albeit in different ways. These foreign policies disproportionately impact access to abortion care for those who have experienced sexual violence, those who are in conflict and humanitarian settings, and those of low-incomes.Support the Show.Follow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

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 emergency medical condition is defined “as a condition in which, without immediate medical attention, a patient's health or life is in serious jeopardy.” The statute does not make exceptions for state law, the personal beliefs of providers, or hospitals of religious affiliation. For pregnant people, abortion care can be a very necessary, time-sensitive, and sometimes life-saving health service. State-level abortion bans are already forcing patients to travel hours and long distances to receive care, and providers to leave the hostile states they are practicing in. EMTALA’s ruling may narrow, even more, the already constricted landscape that patients and providers find themselves navigating in the United States—especially for those who are experiencing an emergency.Support the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

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, patients in Florida (who can) will likely have to travel as far as New York and Illinois to receive abortion care. Florida’s Supreme Court decision follows up years of challenging legislative sessions that have dismantled public education, banned sex education, and prevented the expansion of Medicaid. A ballot initiative has been introduced that may remove the Supreme Court ruling in November. If you’d like to learn more about reproductive justice and voting rights, check out our past podcast episode here.Support the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

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 three times more likely to die from a pregnancy related case than white women, with the CDC noting that 80% of pregnancy related deaths are preventable. As the Supreme Court gets ready to hear the EMTALA case, which could allow medical professionals to turn those in urgent or emergency need of an abortion away due to “conscience” concerns, maternal mortality and morbidity may increase as abortion becomes increasingly more difficult to access. As the wealthiest nation with the worst maternal health outcomes, the United States has the capacity to recognize the human right to choose if, when, and how to have children, access resources to plan one’s family, parent children in safe and sustainable communities, experience bodily autonomy and sexual pleasure, and provide holistic health care through a reproductive justice lens. Support the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

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 to talk with us about pregnancy criminalization, the child welfare system, and how Roe’s overturning further impacts rates of criminalization.   Themes of compelling people to give birth, the separation of families, and the criminalization of pregnancy reaches back to the United States’ slavery era. Pregnancy criminalization heavily unfolded during the U.S.’ crack cocaine epidemic in the 1980s, disproportionately targeting Black women and turning a public health matter into a criminal one. These reproductive liberties, which have been consistently attacked throughout U.S. history, are further constrained with the repeal of Roe. Mandatory reporters within the current child welfare system are much more likely to report Black women to child protection authorities, as well as impoverished patients. Support the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

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. Today, the courts are packed with extreme conservative judges and Trump-appointees who maintain a vested interest in maintaining the act as a strategy to ban abortion pills and procedural items sent through the mail. To combat the Comstock Act and its ability to further decimate reproductive health and rights, Comstock must be completely repealed, and a presidential administration that doesn’t enforce Comstock is necessary. The president, who also has the power of pardoning, can pre-pardon anyone later convicted within the 5-year statutory period of a Comstock-related crime before leaving office. Support the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

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 justice lens and progress made in bridging gaps to care.Abortion is not accessible for many Californians, particularly low-income individuals and those living in rural areas, and fewer than two-thirds of counties in California have abortion clinics, leaving some residents hundreds of miles away from care. Transportation, childcare, unreliable internet access, and taking time off work can present insurmountable obstacles for many. Still, grassroots efforts and legislative initiatives are making strides toward improving abortion access in the state. The California Future of Abortion Council, a group of reproductive justice activists, researchers, providers, and patients, produced two reports featuring recommendations to improve and safeguard abortion access in the state. These recommendations have led to the introduction of 28 pro-abortion bills in the 2022 and 2023 legislative sessions and secured over $200 million in funding to expand abortion access in California. Support the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

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 the near future. Increasing contraceptive access, the removal of funding for crisis pregnancy centers, and the introduction of constitutional protections are just some examples of progressive state legislature that may expand and support sexual and reproductive health and rights. In addition, some bills focused around maternal health, doulas, and midwifery are sources of hopeful change. While it can often feel like SRHRJ is impacted by one bad policy after the next, let’s take a moment to celebrate the encouraging push for access across the country. Support the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

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 stems from a legal situation in which an in vitro fertilization (IVF) clinic worker dropped some embryo dishes, accidentally destroying them. This court case ruling has effectively shut down IVF therapy across the state, which will undoubtedly cause a ripple effect and disproportionately impact those who depend upon IVF for family planning. This ruling may also have implications for contraception—if life, according to Alabama, truly “begins at conception,” then IUDs, which purposefully interferes with implantation, may be at risk. Another upcoming Supreme Court case, Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA, will prove threatening to medication abortion and telehealth generally. You can learn more here.Support the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

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 and reproductive health and rights intertwine.  Adoption is the U.S. has a long, complicated, and often painful history. In the modern day, adoption is often presented as an alternative to abortion, but Gretchen’s research showed that study participants rarely weighed an abortion vs. adoption; most often, people who couldn’t get an abortion then turned to adoption relinquishment as an option. There is no telling what the overturning of Roe will mean for the future of abortion and adoption in the U.S.—data on adoptions pre-Roe is still sparse. Support the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

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 environment, Lexis initially did not see abortion as an option when she discovered she was experiencing an unwanted pregnancy. Open and de-stigmatized  conversations about abortion empowered Lexis to get the care that she needed. Now an abortion storyteller and champion herself, Lexis’s abortion story exemplifies that abortion storytelling changes and saves lives. As Executive Director of AFO—an organization grounded in reproductive justice—Lexis has borne first-hand witness to the profound impact of the Dobbs decision. In the journey towards collective liberation, it is imperative that we center the visionary leadership of Black reproductive justice activists and organizations and transform Roe. Support the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

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 to honest feelings and conversations about sexual pleasure. These barriers disproportionately impact women; a 2018 study looking at national data found a huge discrepancy in orgasm experience. Heterosexual men experienced an orgasm 95% of the time they engaged in sexual activity, followed by gay men at 89% of the time and bisexual men at 88%. Lesbian women experienced orgasm 86% of the time, followed by bisexual women at 66%, and heterosexual women at 65%. The good news? There’s plenty of resources to use, things to learn, and ideas to explore to define what pleasure means to you.Support the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

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 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.Project 2025 is a broad vision about the future of the United States led by the Heritage Foundation. The project includes a 950-page map to achieving the project, which is centered on electing and maintaining a conservative President and, ultimately, continuing a conservative United States of America. Approximately 80 organizations have signed on to this project, and the targeting and restricting of LGBTQI+ rights and sexual and reproductive health and rights is overrepresented throughout the project and roadmap.Support the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

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 the Dobbs decision, and implemented the “abortion trafficking” law (which is currently blocked as a legal challenge proceeds), faces a variety of abortion and pregnancy/childbirth barriers. Severe driving times, hospital closures in rural communities, a dissolved maternal mortality review board, stigma, and abortion bans themselves create a climate of fear and impact people’s reproductive decisions.  Thankfully, Idaho has introduced a progressive voting campaign and recently voted to expand Medicaid. Support the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

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 Biden administration.The Trump administration finalized rules that defined refusals and greatly expanded the amount of people in the healthcare systems that could potentially refuse care. The Biden administration’s new rules around refusals rescind the Trump rules, taking us back to the refusal of care statutes with no extended reach. Ideally, and in congruence with this, stripping the Weldon amendment from the Labor HHS appropriations bill and repealing the Hyde amendment would expand access to abortion.  Support the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

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 COVID-19 pandemic, after the passage of Texas’s SB8, and after the Supreme Court ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Volunteers, including moderator volunteers who are on for 12-hours a day, undergo intensive training and point those seeking assistance on r/abortion towards information and resources. LinksOnline Abortion Resource SquadOnline Abortion Resource Squad on TwitterOnline Abortion Resource Squad on LinkedInr/abortion on Reddit Take ActionFirst and foremost, follow the Online Abortion Resource Squad on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also follow r/abortion on Reddit here. Figure out whatever steps you would need to take to access an abortion in your community, and make sure you are intimately familiar with those steps. Next, apply the same steps for loved ones in your life. Learn the laws where you live. Talk to your doctor, talk to your local representatives, and talk to people in your communities about ways to strengthen abortion access. If you see someone on Reddit who needs abortion help, send them to/abortion.  If possible, donate! Support the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

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 include that of miscarriage criminalization, abortion ban exceptions, criminalizing medical providers, placing care limitations on emergency rooms, state abortion bans, and access to mifepristone; the decisions that come from these cases may have erect more barriers to care, spread additional stigma, and create legal concerns for patients and providers.   LinksJessica Mason Pieklo on TwitterRewire.News on TwitterRewire.News on FacebookSCOTUS Is Likely to Decide if Abortion Is Health CareIdaho's Reproductive Health Crisis and Christian NationalismOhio Woman Who Miscarried Faces Charge That She Abused CorpseKate Cox sought an abortion in Texas. A court said no because she didn’t show her life was in danger Take ActionFollow Rewire.News on Twitter and Facebook, and find Jessica Mason Pieklo on Twitter here.  Take care of yourself. These court fights will require a long haul approach, and do what you need to do to engage in self-care. Make sure you are supporting direct aid services—donate, if possible, to your local abortion funds. In addition, amplify local voices, which most intimately understand the network of care.Support the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

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 Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice and how it reflects the overturning of Roe v. Wade.   The blueprint outlines policy actions and leadership actions—including executive actions that can be taken by the President and asks for government agencies, including asks from the Department of Homeland Security, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Department of Health and Human Services. LinksBlueprint for Sexual and Reproductive Health, Rights, and JusticeNational Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice on TwitterNational Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice on FacebookPlanned Parenthood Federation of America on TwitterPlanned Parenthood Federation of America on Facebook Take Action First and foremost, follow NLIRJ on Twitter and Facebook and PPFA on Twitter and Facebook. Amplify the blueprint and the policy agenda it lays out in your communities and platforms. Share on social media, share with friends, family, and policy makers, and send to related (and non-related!) organizations. Reach out to local, state, and federal elected officials and stress the importance of achieving the vision of SRHR for all. You can contact the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. Support the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!