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 prepare for the realistic, long-term impacts of these attacks.
Read MoreApril 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 maternal health crisis in the U.S. and the myriad, ongoing attacks to the Black community’s health, rights, and wellbeing from the new administration.
Read MoreA 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. Jessica Mason Pieklo, Senior Vice President and Executive Editor of Rewire News Group and co-host of Boom! Lawyered, sits down to talk with us about the implications of this case for the country’s most vulnerable.
Read MorerePROs 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 our right to bodily autonomy with Tarah Demant, Interim National Director of Programs, Advocacy, and Government Affairs at Amnesty International USA.
Read MoreThe 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 services.
Read MoreMedicaid, 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 to talk with us about how Medicaid is indispensable for SRH coverage and how recent proposed cuts would impact those who are enrolled.
Read MoreA 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.
Read MoreReproductive 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 Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda, Kat Olivera, Director of Government Relations at the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice (NLIRJ), and Fajer Saeed Ebrahim, Senior Policy Manager at the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF), sit down to talk with us about the reproductive justice policy agenda.
Read MoreThe 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, economic growth activities, and more. Elissa Miolene, reporter at Devex, sits down to talk with us about the impact of the past few week’s chaotic attacks to USAID.
Read MoreThe 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.
Read MoreThe 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 Advocacy at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, sits down to talk with us about what the expanded global gag rule is, what it means for health practitioners and patients abroad, and how it can be repealed.
Read MoreThe 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 Manager with rePROs Fight Back, sits down to talk with us about the direct harm of Helms and why it’s far past time the amendment is repealed.
Read More2024 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.
Read MoreAll 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 abortion clinics.
Read MoreSexual and reproductive health faced unrelenting attacks this year, and the assault will likely only increase in 2025 under the Trump administration. Susan Rinkunas with the Cut, Jezebel, and Vice, and an independent journalist covering abortion and politics, sits down to look back with us on sexual and reproductive health and rights in 2024 and what we can expect in the coming year.
Read MoreHuman rights are born out of the belief that every individual is equal and deserving of life, dignity, respect, and freedom. States must then deliver on those obligations. But through nominations, harmful policy, and mass confusion, the returning administration has a broad ability to dissolve human rights. Rori Kramer, Director of U.S. Advocacy at the American Jewish World Service, sits down to talk with us about the foundations of human rights and what we can expect from the coming administration.
Read MoreThe incoming Trump administration won’t just devastate sexual and reproductive health in the United States—the harm will absolutely ripple abroad. Rachel Clement, Senior Director of Government Strategy at PAI, sits down to talk with us about the prospect of global human rights under the incoming administration and potential harmful policy to come.
Read MoreA new Supreme Court case, United States v. Skrmetti, will challenge Tennessee’s Senate Bill 1, which prohibits gender-affirming care for transgender minors. Katelyn Burns, columnist for MSNBC, first ever openly trans Capitol Hill Reporter, co-host of the podcast Cancel Me Daddy, and co-founder of the publication the Flytrap, sits down to talk with us about this case and what realities the trans community will face under the new administration.
Read MoreThe November election will undoubtedly send sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice (SRHRJ) spiraling. Erin Matson, Co-Founder, President, and CEO of Reproaction, sits down to talk with us about the devastating consequences of a second Trump administration and what actions can be taken now before inauguration day.
Read MoreAfter the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, and for many years before, Florida served as an abortion access point for many people in the South. But with changing judicial interpretation of “privacy” in the state, access to abortion in Florida has shifted. Laura Goodhue, Executive Director of Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, sits down to talk with us about the status of abortion access in Florida and the outcome of the state ballot initiative in the November 2024 election.
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