rePROs Fight Back

The Midwest is a patchwork of different abortion laws—while some states like Michigan and Minnesota have protected access, others have completely banned care, like Indiana and Missouri. Garnet Henderson , Senior Multiplatform Reporter at Rewire News Group and host and producer of ACCESS: A Podcast About Abortion, sits down to talk with us about abortion access in the Midwest, including how it may...

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. The agency advocates for, provides access to, and educates on sexual and reproductive health and rights services.  Rebecca Zerzan , editor with UNFPA, sits down to talk with us about UNFPA’s 2024 state of world population report, Interwoven Lives, Threads of Hope: Ending Inequalities in Sexual a...

Title IX, a civil rights law enacted in 1972, is a statute meant to protect students from sex discrimination in educational environments to maintain equal opportunity to educational access. This year, the Biden administration released a new Title IX rule, which provides additional protections for those who are most likely to experience sex discrimination at school. Shiwali Patel , Senior Director...

In previous episodes, we’ve outlined Project 2025’s reach into global governance, LGBTQI+ health and rights, and the international sphere. Sabrina Talukder, Director of the Women’s Initiative at the Center for American Progress, sits down to talk with us about what the Heritage Foundation’s conservative roadmap means specifically for U.S. sexual and reproductive health and rights. Project 2025 see...

Many of the outlined ambitions of Project 2025 are focused around concentrating executive power, de-regulation, and religious protections, all of which have massive implications in the U.S. and around the world. Gillian Kane , Director of Global Research and Advocacy at Ipas, sits down to talks with us about the active, global reach of Project 2025 and Protego—in multiple countries and in global g...

In conflicts, disasters, and climate and health emergencies, many often consider food, shelter, and water to be the immediate needs of those impacted. While these are incredibly important requirements, women and girls are uniquely impacted by these emergencies, and sexual and reproductive health and rights must also be realized. Gayatri Patel , Chief of External Affairs at the Malala Fund and Seni...

Project 2025 is a broad vision regarding the future of the United States led by the Heritage Foundation. The project is hundreds of pages, centered on continuing a conservative United States through consolidating power in presidency, getting rid of civil servants, and further marginalizing already vulnerable communities. Sarah Warbelow , Vice President, Legal, at the Human Rights Campaign, sits do...

This week, we are doing things a little differently! We hear from advocates, medical providers, leaders, and researchers, who tell us about their strategies, reflections, hopes, and joys during the ongoing fight for sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice. Guests featured in this episode include:  Jennie Wetter, Director of rePROs Fight Back Dr. Monica McLemore , Professor of Child, Fa...

On June 27th, 2024, the Supreme Court punted Idaho v. United States consolidated with Moyle v. United States , which called into question whether federal law protects doctors who provide abortion care in a medical emergency. Jessica Mason Pieklo , Senior Vice President and Executive Editor at Rewire News Group and co-host of Rewire News Group's podcast Boom! Lawyered, talks to us about the im...

In the past month, the Supreme Court has interacted with three cases that have stark implications for the reproductive health, rights, and wellbeing of many across the U.S. Madiba Dennie , author of The Originalism Trap: How Extremists Stole the Constitution and How We the People Can Take it Back and Deputy Editor and Senior Contributor at the legal commentary outlet Balls and Strikes, sits down t...

Medicaid, the largest public health insurance program for people in the United States, exists on a state-by-state basis. But how could Medicaid possibly relate to sexual and reproductive health? Fabiola De Liban , Director, Sexual and Reproductive Health, with the National Health Law Program, sits down to talk with us about what is covered under the program, what’s not covered, Medicaid’s disturbi...

Two years after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, abortion providers across the United States are sharing their reflections on the current state of abortion access, how to take action, and their visions for the future.  Guests include: Dr. Rachel Chisausky , family medicine physician in the Northwest and fellow with Physicians for Reproductive Health Dr. Keemi Ereme , OB/GYN and abortion provider in...

Abortion is impossible to access in the Dominican Republic and extremely inaccessible in Brazil. Misinformation, gender-based violence, and influences from the harmful U.S. anti-abortion movement are contributing to rates of higher need in countries where abortion access is remarkably difficult. Garnet Henderson , Senior Reporter at Rewire News Group and host and producer of ACCESS: A Podcast Abou...

Mourning, anger, and grief were top-line emotions after the overturning of Roe v. Wade . Still, a recently released collection of essays and stories highlights the very real and inspiring on-the-ground work and experiences of reproductive justice leaders, health care professionals, patients, artists, legislators, and more in the wake of Roe’s overturning. Krystale Littlejohn and Rickie Solinger ,...

Despite often being dismissed as foreign or cultural problems, harmful gender-based practices exist in every community across the United States, affecting countless individuals. Maniza Habib , Research Associate at Population Institute and Amani Nelson , Research Fellow at Population Institute, sit down to talk with us about how to achieve legislative progress and a culturally informed approach to...

Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade , abortion funds have been working overtime to support skyrocketing amounts of patients in need . And while there was a large influx in donations to abortion funds after the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court case, those donations have waned in recent years. Lindsey Mullen , Co-Executive Director of the Alabama Cohosh Collaborative a...

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 o...

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-...

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 Corres...

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 Ce...

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 fo...

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 Labo...

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 th...

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...

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 t...