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.Increasingly, pronatalism is being driven by governments. The Trump administration, for example, have been manipulating language to advance pronatalist ideology, including describing American women as “under babied” and referring to the expansion of the Global Gag Rule as the “Promoting Human Flourishing in Foreign Assistance” Act. Government restrictions and cultural interventions are the tools used for pronatalism, and the language (often rooted in a low-fertility and birthrate “crisis”) global administrations use support these tools. For more information, check out Boom! Lawyered: https://rewirenewsgroup.com/boom-lawyered/ Support the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Bluesky: @reprosfightback.bsky.socialBuy rePROs Merch: Bonfire store Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

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.”For more information, check out Boom! Lawyered: https://rewirenewsgroup.com/boom-lawyered/ Support the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Bluesky: @reprosfightback.bsky.socialBuy rePROs Merch: Bonfire store Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

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.The FACE (Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances) Act was passed in the early 1990s with bipartisan support. The law was put in place to address a surge in violence and harassment, targeting, and blockading of reproductive health care clinics. The Trump administration has consistently misrepresented and threatened the FACE Act, including going after litigators who prosecuted under FACE Act violations. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has put together a 900-page report intended to discredit prosecutors and civil servants and to create a narrative to justify those facing being fired by the department.For more information, check out Boom! Lawyered: https://rewirenewsgroup.com/boom-lawyered/ Support the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Bluesky: @reprosfightback.bsky.socialBuy rePROs Merch: Bonfire store Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

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. For more information, check out: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-podcasts/2058-two-blocks-from-the-white-houseSupport the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Bluesky: @reprosfightback.bsky.socialBuy rePROs Merch: Bonfire store Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

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. In 2024, the state of Louisiana sued the Food and Drug Administration over a rule change from 2023 that allowed mifepristone to be prescribed and dispensed remotely. Previously, the agency had required the pill to be dispensed in-person at a clinic or other health facility. On May 1, 2026, the FDA’s rule was temporarily blocked, restricting mifepristone access nationwide. Emergency petitions were filed with the Supreme Court the next day, and on May 4, the stay was applied to the block until May 11. On May 14th, the Supreme Court continued to allow patients to access mifepristone.On Mother’s Day, a website for new and expectant mothers called moms.gov dropped, pushing pro-natalist, eugenicist propaganda.For more information, check out: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-podcasts/2058-two-blocks-from-the-white-houseSupport the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Bluesky: @reprosfightback.bsky.socialBuy rePROs Merch: Bonfire store Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

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.For more information, check out: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-podcasts/2058-two-blocks-from-the-white-houseSupport the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Bluesky: @reprosfightback.bsky.socialBuy rePROs Merch: Bonfire store Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

This week, we're bringing you a special feed drop from Disrupting Peace, a podcast from the World Peace Foundation, which explores why peace hasn’t worked, and how it still could. In each episode, Bridget Conley, research director at the World Peace Foundation, speaks with a researcher specializing in one obstacle to peace, and an activist who’s changing systems from the ground up. Together they explore what worked, what didn’t, and why we shouldn’t give up.This episode focuses on Iceland, the country ranked number one for gender equality for 15 years in a row. The episodes explores what makes Iceland unique, how younger generations are pushing the feminist agenda forward, and why limiting freedom around parental leave has increased equality in this volcanic, Nordic country.Access the Disrupting Peace podcast here: https://pod.link/1759500826For more information, check out: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-podcasts/2058-two-blocks-from-the-white-houseSupport the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Bluesky: @reprosfightback.bsky.socialBuy rePROs Merch: Bonfire store Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

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 Beely, 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.Reproductive healthcare and abortion in Indiana face an uphill battle. Title X clinics in the state of Indiana face increased limitations on what information they can provide, but they are there to see patients, nonetheless. The state has a Planned Parenthood affiliate, but two centers in Indianapolis are currently closing due to federal Medicaid cuts. Crisis pregnancy centers, (CPCs) or fake clinics, are extremely common in Indiana and across the U.S. Ultrasounds are performed by non-medical personnel, they are not bound by HIPPA, and abortion is often not offered as an option for care. Abortion funds need your support to continue providing on-the-ground services and resources to those seeking an abortion and to steer clear of harmful CPCs. For more information, check out: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-podcasts/2058-two-blocks-from-the-white-houseSupport the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Bluesky: @reprosfightback.bsky.socialBuy rePROs Merch: Bonfire store Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

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. Benefits of doula care include lower rates of low-birth-weight babies, lower rates of cesarian delivery, and higher rates of breastfeeding initiation. Doulas can also help reduce racial disparities in care, particularly for those who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC). One of the core goals of increasing doula care surrounds the current Black maternal health crisis in the United States; doulas can provide support and act as an advocate when a patient faces individual, structural, or institutional racism. States, health plans, and employers have shown increasing interest in expanding and implementing access to doula care. Across the country, Medicaid covers close to half of all births. Over the past five years, 25 states and Washington D.C. have implemented Medicaid coverage of doulas, with half a dozen states in the process of implementation. For more information, check out: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-podcasts/2058-two-blocks-from-the-white-houseSupport the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Bluesky: @reprosfightback.bsky.socialBuy rePROs Merch: Bonfire store Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

“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.  Religion, tradition, power, and national identity tie closely into conservative interpretations of “family values.” This excludes nontraditional households, the LGBTQI+ community, and many more people, and ascribes political power to that exclusion. Housing, reproduction, immigration protection, marriage access, and adoption access are policy indicators that often do not reflect lived experiences for families and ultimately expose people to further marginalization. For more information, check out: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-podcasts/2058-two-blocks-from-the-white-houseSupport the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Bluesky: @reprosfightback.bsky.socialBuy rePROs Merch: Bonfire store Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

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.Attacks on abortion, birth control, sex education, and the LGBTQI+ community—both rhetorically and politically—have been increasing drastically. These attacks are often rooted in core values of religious extremism and protecting the nuclear family. The anti-abortion movement and media is seeking to hitch their wagon to the MAHA movement, (Make America Healthy Again) claiming that the abortion pill and the birth control pill have detrimental health and environmental side effects. For more information, check out Sex Ed with DB: https://podcasts.apple.com/zw/podcast/sex-ed-with-db-smart-science-backed-sex-education/id1819071622Support the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Bluesky: @reprosfightback.bsky.socialBuy rePROs Merch: Bonfire store Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

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.The Supreme Court heard a challenge to Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy (Chiles v. Salazar), in which the justices ruled 8-1 in favor of Chiles and sent the discussion of conversion therapy as “protected speech” back down to the lower courts. It represents a large shift in what the court considers “speech,” particularly “medical speech.” In Trump v. Barbara, the court scrutinized an executive order seeking to redefine birthright citizenship—specifically to restrict the citizenship of children who are U.S.-born but have non-citizen parents. The Supreme Court taking this case in the first place is concerning. For more information, check out Sex Ed with DB: https://podcasts.apple.com/zw/podcast/sex-ed-with-db-smart-science-backed-sex-education/id1819071622Support the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Bluesky: @reprosfightback.bsky.socialBuy rePROs Merch: Bonfire store Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

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. By getting measures on the ballot, collecting signatures, and gathering funds, activists have been committed to protecting reproductive autonomy via the state constitution. Cases are currently pending in Missouri, Ohio, Arizona, and Michigan, where litigators are in the process of blocking down and striking various abortion restrictions. For more information, check out Sex Ed with DB: https://podcasts.apple.com/zw/podcast/sex-ed-with-db-smart-science-backed-sex-education/id1819071622Support the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Bluesky: @reprosfightback.bsky.socialBuy rePROs Merch: Bonfire store Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

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. Comprehensive sex education, which includes not only discussion of sex, but of anatomy, consent, sexual orientation and gender identity, healthy relationships, violence prevention, media literacy, contraception, and more, is delivered in age-appropriate ways. Yet, last year, SIECUS found over 1,000 pieces of legislation at the national and state level impacting young people’s access to healthcare and education. There was a 20% increase in aggressive legislation against sex education as compared to 2024. 18 bills were ultimately passed into law in 2025, which were aimed at restricting comprehensive, medically accurate sex education and information. For example, Baby Olivia bills require AI-generated, anti-abortion videos be shown to children starting in third grade. For more information, check out Sex Ed with DB: https://podcasts.apple.com/zw/podcast/sex-ed-with-db-smart-science-backed-sex-education/id1819071622Support the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Bluesky: @reprosfightback.bsky.socialBuy rePROs Merch: Bonfire store Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

Approximately 10 million students per year are attending community colleges in the U.S., and many students are balancing multiple responsibilities while they study. Yet, most community colleges do not offer robust health care services, like contraception, STI testing and treatment, and pregnancy testing. Dr. Martinique Free, Director of Connect for Success at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, talks to us about the state of limited access to sexual and reproductive health services and care on community college campuses and the program that is seeking to change that reality.The Connect for Success Initiative considers the dramatic shift of the sexual and reproductive health and rights landscape in the U.S. over the past five years. The program gives funding support to nonprofits, health departments and community colleges that are working to provide SRHR care and information to students across the U.S.’ geography and policy environments. Connect for Success also works hand-in-hand with students that attend partnership universities to make sure the programming matches their true needs. Support the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Bluesky: @reprosfightback.bsky.socialBuy rePROs Merch: Bonfire store Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

From an IRS agent who originally penned the Hyde Amendment to the lawmakers involved in creating parental consent laws, there are several actors in the antiabortion movement’s fight to dismantle Roe v. Wade. Amy Littlefield, abortion access correspondent at the Nation, freelance abortion writer, and author of Killers of Roe: My Investigation Into the Mysterious Death of Abortion Rights, sits down to talk with us about the motives, means, and opportunities behind the antiabortion movement's victory, and helps us more closely unpack the murder of Roe. Support the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Bluesky: @reprosfightback.bsky.social Buy rePROs Merch: Bonfire store Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

Fertility awareness-based methods (FABMs) are different approaches to tracking fertility and identifying which days someone is most likely to conceive if they are having sex without contraception. These include features such as tracking one’s menstrual cycle, basal body temperature, and cervical mucus, among others. Chelsea Polis, Principal Research Scientist at the Guttmacher Institute, sits down to talk with us about different FABMs, their effectiveness, advantages, and disadvantages, and why it is necessary for each method to be rooted in scientific evidence and reproductive justice. By tracking these markers, someone can choose to have sex for the purposes of pregnancy or abstain from sex/use additional contraception methods if they seek to avoid pregnancy. Based on their advantages and disadvantages, FABMs may work for some individuals and not others. Some people use FABMs for contraceptive purposes, yet not all of the methods have been tested for that purpose or approved by any regulatory body for that use. Some methods are engaging in inappropriate marketing as a contraceptive tool, when it is not backed up by science or regulatory approval. FABMs have also become a piece of the Make America Health Again (MAHA) movement, being touted as a substitute for the full spectrum of reproductive care.To best integrate FABMs as a contraceptive option into the full menu, we need to support providers, fund research, and combat misinformation. For more information, check out Future Hindsight: https://www.futurehindsight.com/Support the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Bluesky: @reprosfightback.bsky.social Buy rePROs Merch: Bonfire store Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

It has now been one year of the second Trump administration, with many attacks to sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice aligning entirely with Project 2025’s blueprint. Amy Friedrich-Karnik, Director of Federal Policy at the Guttmacher Institute and Anna Bernstein, Principal Federal Policy Advisor at the Guttmacher Institute, sit down to talk with us about the year’s assaults on sexual and reproductive health and rights, LGBTQI+ rights, and science and healthcare by the Trump administration. From day one of their return to office, protections for abortion access put in place by the Biden administration were rolled back. This included several protections for privacy, emergency care, and veteran’s access. President Trump immediately pardoned anti-abortion activists who had previously violated the FACE (Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances) Act and has stopped enforcing the act in most places. Anti-science rhetoric increases, with the Food and Drug Administration endorsing junk-science against mifepristone-- one of the drugs used in a medication abortion. To promote mis- and disinformation, data sets, research, and websites were removed from the internet. The passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act defunded Planned Parenthood and set work restrictions on Medicaid coverage. Additionally, the administration froze Title X funding, expanded the already-expanded Global Gag Rule, and issued endless attacks to the transgender community.For more information, check out Future Hindsight: https://www.futurehindsight.com/Support the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Bluesky: @reprosfightback.bsky.social Buy rePROs Merch: Bonfire store Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

A humanitarian crisis-- where life has been upset by natural disaster, conflict, or forced displacement-- can disproportionately impact women and girls. Women and girls, at disproportionate risk for gender-based violence, maternal health complications, and barriers to accessing aid, have different requirements in these settings. Julianne Deitch, Associate Director of Research at the Women’s Refugee Commission (WRC), looks back with us on this last year’s foreign aid cuts and talks to us about the substantial impacts on women and girls in crisis.Before 2025, the U.S. was one of the largest donors to humanitarian aid globally, with aid hovering at 13 billion dollars annually to address immediate needs for population in crises. Still, humanitarian aid made up less than 0.1% of the gross national income. In January 2025, the Trump administration froze all U.S. foreign aid and dismantled U.S. foreign assistance infrastructure (including closing USAID). Over the last year, WRC collected concrete evidence from over 32 countries. They found that women and girls in humanitarian crises: 1) have lost access to necessary health care (maternal health, sexual and reproductive health care, antiviral drugs, and more); 2) are less safe from gender-based violence; and 3) have lost access to women-led, targeted, trusted, local support. Increased funding, advancing the life-saving principle of gender-specific humanitarian aid, supporting local, women-led organizations, and holding governments accountable are all recommendations for addressing this reality. For more information, check out Future Hindsight: https://www.futurehindsight.com/Support the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Bluesky: @reprosfightback.bsky.social Buy rePROs Merch: Bonfire store Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

The Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community is made up of various ethnicities, languages, and translation needs, requiring different and individualized advocacy and policy discussions-- particularly when that policy relates to sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice. Christina Baal-Owens, Executive Director of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) sits down to talk with us about recent research performed by NAPAWF showing the most pervasive barriers to abortion access for the AAPI community and AAPI immigrants in the U.S. Stigma, cultural differences, language and translation, and healthcare deserts prevent AAPI immigrants from accessing necessary services, such as abortion. Additional clinics and health centers, improved language accessibility, and expanded access to health insurance (regardless of immigration status) are all options for lowering barriers to this care. It is important to remember that ICE activity impacts AAPI communities, too. ICE’s presence negatively affects the realization of reproductive justice; many might be fearful to access services outside their homes, many might worry about their naturalization process, or others may be stymied by criminalization and stigma.For more information, check out Future Hindsight: https://www.futurehindsight.com/Support the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Bluesky: @reprosfightback.bsky.social Buy rePROs Merch: Bonfire store Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!