rePROs Fight Back

2/3 of Massachusetts voters support expanding access to abortion later in pregnancy, according to recent polling. Massachusetts still has on the books a 24-week abortion ban, with additional exceptions later added. Jeanette Kincaid , Associate Director of Care Coordination at DuPont Clinic and Kate Dineen , abortion later in pregnancy patient and advocate and Board Member of Reproductive Equity No...

The One Big Beautiful Bill is a reconciliation bill which passed the House and has moved on to the Senate. Included in this bill are provisions that would defund Planned Parenthood, threaten health insurance access, undermine access to abortion and gender-affirming-care nationwide, and raise costs on working families. Ianthe Metzger , Senior Director, Advocacy Communications at Planned Parenthood,...

Mifepristone is the first (and extremely safe) in two medications that people will take during a medication abortion—and access to it is under blatant attack in the courts. Dr. Ushma Upadhyay , Public Health Scientist based at University of California San Francisco, and Julia Kaye , Senior Staff Attorney with the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project, sit down to talk with us about recent anti-abort...

There are many reasons why someone may require a third-trimester abortion, including both fetal implications and maternal implications (such as health diagnoses and difficult life circumstances). Dr. Shelley Sella , retired OB-GYN, first woman to openly provide third-trimester abortion care in the U.S., and author of Beyond Limits: Stories of Third-Trimester Abortion Care , sits down to share her...

Global reproductive rights and investment in the agencies and organizations that support reproductive rights have often been used as a political football. The bodies of women, girls, and LGBTQI+ persons have been used to push and pull power for decades—and this anti-rights, anti-choice framework has become increasingly exported around the world. Beth Schlachter , Senior Director for U.S. and Exter...

Title X, under the Public Health Services Act, allows for a family planning and reproductive health-based pool of funding that government agencies and nonprofits can apply for and use to support patients. Providers who receive Title X funding see all patients regardless of insurance status and income level. Clare Coleman , President and CEO of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health A...

T/W: Discussions of suicide in the last 1/3 of this conversation The health, rights, and wellbeing of the LGBTQI+ community are under increasingly distressing strain, with a collection of new court cases only cementing the burden. Preston Mitchum , writer, policy analyst, consultant, star of Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard, and Senior Fellow with rePROs Fight Back, sits down to talk with us about...

The majority of people in the U.S. support abortion, yet access has been decimated around the country. That kind of disparity deserves evidence-based, practiced commentary, and we can think of no better doctors to share their experiences than Dr. Beverly Gray and Dr. Jonas Swartz , OBGYNs and co-hosts of the podcast Outlawed. They sit down to talk with us about being on the frontlines of abortion...

After personal experience with severe pregnancy complications and requiring a later abortion among a labyrinth of state abortion bans, Erika Christensen and Garin Marschall co-founded Patient Forward, a national strategy and advocacy organization. Erika and Garin sit down with us to talk about why people need abortions later in pregnancy, what barriers exist to accessing that care, and why governm...

There’s a grab bag of sexual and reproductive health news from around the U.S. From the wins to celebrate to the updates to keep an eye on, Garnet Henderson , investigative reporter specializing in sexual and reproductive health and disinformation, sits down to talk with us about a host of SRHR issues that are moving through the political and judicial landscape.   Issues discussed include: Nevada’...

Within hours of the new administration’s return-to-office, disorder took over. A foreign aid freeze, a stop-work order, and the dismantling of key foreign aid institutions commenced almost immediately. Gayatri Patel , Senior Fellow with rePROs Fight Back, sits down to talk with us about glimmers of hope for protecting this foreign assistance funding and relevant agencies, as well as how we can pre...

April 11th- 17th officially marks Black Maternal Health Week—a week-long campaign centered on activism, awareness, and community-building for Black mamas and Black birthing people. Elizabeth Dawes , Director of Maternal and Reproductive Health and Senior Fellow at the Century Foundation and Co-Founder of the Black Mamas Matter Alliance, sits down to talk with us about the status of the Black mater...

A new case with tremendous possible consequences for U.S. sexual and reproductive health and rights has made its way onto the Supreme Court docket. Medina v. Planned Parenthood of South Atlantic is a culmination of decades of anti-choice activist’s attacks to Planned Parenthood and other reproductive health care providers, specifically targeting efforts to kick these providers out of Medicaid. Jes...

This week, we’re bringing you a special feed drop from Rom Com Vom, a miniseries from Sex Ed with DB that unpacks beloved rom-coms, strips away their hidden toxic messages, and rewrites the script on love and sex. In this clip, host Danielle Bezalel sits down with Dr. Gretchen Sisson, a sociologist and expert on adoption and abortion, to break down Juno’s portrayal of teen pregnancy, adoption, and...

rePROs Fight Back released its 13th annual 50-State Report Card on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. The United States, overall, received an ‘F’ grade, while 5 states received an ‘A’ and 25 states failed. Jennie Wetter , Director of the rePROs Fight Back initiative and host of the rePROs Fight Back podcast, sits down to discuss this staggering loss of rights and the continuous fight for o...

The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) is a landmark federal law that revolutionized the right to emergency healthcare and provides crucial protections for pregnant people. Alexa Kolbi-Molinas , Deputy Director at the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project, sits down to talk with us about the status of the case and what we can continue to do to protect emergency abortion servic...

Medicaid, the United States’ largest public health insurance program, currently insures over 72 million people with low incomes. Medicaid covers a host of health needs, including those related to sexual and reproductive health (SRH). Madeline Morcelle , Senior Attorney at the National Health Law Program (NHeLP) and co-chair of the National Coalition for Gender Justice in Health Policy, sits down t...

A complete lack of abortion access and a climate of fear amongst patients and providers has descended over Texas in the past few years. Wendy Davis , former Texas state senator and Senior Advisor for Planned Parenthood Texas Votes, sits down to talk with us about the current landscape for abortion access in Texas and her famous 2013 filibuster. Texas currently has a complete ban on abortion with e...

Reproductive justice is the human right to control our bodies, our sexuality, our gender, our work, and our reproduction.  This right can only be achieved when everyone, especially those most marginalized, have the complete economic, social, and political power and resources to make healthy decisions about their bodies, families and communities. Bridgette Jackson , Director of Public Policy at In...

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which was previously the largest bilateral donor across the world, was created in 1961 to use the U.S.’s soft power to influence and assist other countries. It has since grown into a department with more than 13,000 employees, the majority of which have worked overseas to provide emergency and humanitarian response, food assistance, e...

The first day of President Trump’s administration, the outright attacks on the transgender community began. A drove of extreme executive orders has ruthlessly targeted transgender individuals’ safety and wellbeing. Chris Geidner, author of Law Dork, sits down to talk with us about these heinous assaults, their already-felt impacts on transgender individuals, and what to expect in the near future....

The global gag rule, which prevents non-governmental organizations who receive U.S. global health funding from providing, counseling on, referring for, or advocating for abortion in their own country and using their own, private resources, has been reinstated by President Trump. Lori Adelman , Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Global, and Caitlin Horrigan , Senior Director of Global Advocac...

The Helms Amendment stipulates that “no foreign assistance funds may be used to pay for the performance of abortion as a method of family planning” abroad and has been in effect since 1973. But the amendment is often overinterpreted as a complete and total ban on U.S. funding for abortion care, even in the most extreme cases and in countries where abortion is legal. Rachel Marchand , Public Policy...

2024 marked the 30th anniversary of a host of significant moments for sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice. Dázon Dixon Diallo , Founder and President of SisterLove, Inc. and SisterLove International South Africa, sits down to talk with us about this momentous occasion, the timeline of reproductive justice, and a hopeful look into the future. In 1994, an array of geopolitical events...

All faith traditions have diverse opinions and practices on reproductive health, rights, and justice. In fact, the majority of people of faith in the U.S. support access to abortion care. Rev. Katey Zeh , ordained Baptist minister and CEO for the Religious Community for Reproductive Choice (RCRC), sits down to talk with us about the organization’s recent blessings and spiritual support provided at...