One Year Ago We Lost the Right to Abortion: Where Are We Now?

June 24th, 2023 marks the one-year mark since the overturning of Roe v. Wade via the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court case. Between July and December 2022, an estimated 66,000 people have not been able to access abortion care in their home state. Becca Andrews, reporter at Reckon News and author of No Choice: The Destruction of Roe v. Wade and the Fight to Protect a Fundamental American Right, talks to us about the myriad of ways in which the abortion landscape has changed in the past year, including the ways anti-abortion ideology has led to a chipping away at democracy.

The lives of providers, clinic staff, patients, abortion storytellers, abortion fund workers, reproductive health, rights, and justice advocates and reporters have changed dramatically in the past year. In abortion hostile states, many providers and clinic staff have been prevented from providing care or are hesitant to provide care due to vague legal limits. Reporters like Becca, who follow stories on abortion access and care, are being silenced algorithmically on social media. Abortion fund workers scramble, against extreme time frames and travel requirements, to put together funding for procedures and transportation. 

The denial of human rights is leading to a steady building of authoritarianism. States are telling patients and doctors what care they can access or provide, newsrooms (particularly those that are local and state-based) are shrinking, and mis-and disinformation is rapidly spreading (Reminder: the disinformation that informs anti-abortion sentiment also informs the anti-LGBTQI+, anti-democracy, and anti-science sentiment). Without access to information and up-to-date news or social media, people do not have immediate interaction with necessary knowledge and the national conversation is stifled more broadly. This prevents them from fully realizing their human right to sexual and reproductive health care.      

In the year since Roe’s overturning, there have, of course, been people who are working overtime to continue to fund, provide, and de-stigmatize abortion care. Grassroots abortion funds, young people, abortion storytellers, and reproductive justice advocates are leading the charge in re-imagining truly equitable abortion access post-Roe. While the future of abortion care in the U.S. is tenuous, we find hope in these leaders and their expertise.  

Links from this episode

No Choice: The Destruction of Roe v. Wade and the Fight to Protect a Fundamental American Right
Becca Andrews at Reckon News
Becca Andrews on Twitter
Over 66,000 People Couldn’t Get An Abortion In Their Home State After Dobbs
Plan C
Abortionfinder.org
Ineedana.com
Repro Legal Helpline
Repro Legal Defense Fund
Digital Defense Fund

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Transcript

Jennie: Welcome to RePROs Fight Back, a podcast on all things related to sexual and reproductive health rights and justice.

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Hi RePROs! How's everybody doing? I'm your host Jennie Wetter, and my pronouns are she/her. So y'all, this weekend marked one year since the Dobbs decision, and I could spend the intro focusing on the many, many, many, many, many terrible things that have happened since then, but I don't want to. We're gonna talk about post-Dobbs in the interview today so let's keep it there and let's do good news. Because y'all, there has been some good news recently and let's just, like, revel in it for a little bit and then deal with the post-Dobbs stuff in the interview. So first up, there has been a good little run for gender-affirming care in court recently. Both the bans in Florida and in Arkansas were in court and both were struck down. Y'all, that is amazing news. The Florida decision also was really just great and really took the state to task over its attack on gender-affirming care. So, such good news. I know it's still gonna be a long fight for trans rights and these attacks on gender-affirming care, but it was so great to see these two positive rulings happen in the last week or so. Next up, we had a good Supreme Court decision. So, there was the case Brackeen vs. Haaland, which was challenging the Indian Child Welfare Act that we were really concerned about and was gonna have some really wide ranging repercussions for tribal sovereignty. Y'all, we got a good decision, like a 7-2 good decision. So wonderful to see a good decision come outta the Supreme Court and tribal sovereignty holding strong for now. You know, there were maybe some cracks opened in the ruling of like, places where it could still be challenged, but this was a win, a solid win, and really great news for tribal sovereignty. So, let's just hold on to the, like, good news for now. And next up- I know! Y'all, I told you there was good news. I was not lying. There are multiple pieces of good news. Last week, Julie Rikelman, former lawyer with the Center for Reproductive Rights, who had argued abortion in front of the Supreme Court—really wonderful, wonderful lawyer, she's been on the podcast before—was finally confirmed to the First Circuit. Y'all, she has a lifetime appointment and will be writing opinions, including opinions on reproductive rights. I am so excited for Julie. I'm really- this is such great news. It is really wonderful to see a champion of reproductive health rights and justice come on the court. So congratulations, Julie! We look forward to seeing your opinions for many, many years to come. And with that, I guess we'll turn to, like, the bummer news, which is my interview. But Becca and I have a really good time talking about one year post-Dobbs, so- and we talk about what is giving us hope. So, don't think that it's gonna be all a bummer. It's a great conversation. I talked to Becca Andrews with Reckon News all about one year post-Dobbs. So with that, let's turn to my interview with Becca.

Jennie: Hi Becca! Thank you so much for being here!

Becca: Hey Jennie, thanks for having me!

Jennie: I'm really excited to talk to you. I feel like it's been a while-

Becca: It's been a minute!

Jennie: But maybe, like, not that long ago? I dunno, time…

Becca: October, maybe.

Jennie: Yeah, maybe, it was like right when your book came out?

Becca: October.

Jennie: Wow. That also feels like it was just yesterday, but also forever ago.

Becca: Yeah. I don't know if it's, like, the pandemic that messed up my perception of time or if it's just like all of the trauma with, like, the pandemic and Dobbs and everything.

Jennie: All the things.

Becca: All the things.

Jennie: Yeah, I feel like when people tell me, like, when things happened, it's always the, like, it feels like it was yesterday slash six years ago. Like, I don't know.

Becca: Got nothing.

Jennie: Like, I have no grasp of the fact that, like, I've been doing the podcast for five years now.

Becca: That's wild.

Jennie: Like, what? That is wild. I dunno how that happened. I've been recording it longer at home than I did in the office. Like, also wild. Anyhow, that is not what we were gonna talk about today. I mean, we could talk about time-

Becca: We contain multitudes, Jennie. We contain multitudes.

Jennie: [laughs] Okay, so when this comes out, the weekend would mark one year since the Dobbs decision, which-

Becca: Mm-hmm.

Jennie: Again, feels like it just happened, but also have been dealing with the fallout for forever.

Becca: Yeah.

Jennie: What are we seeing?

Becca: It's so heavy, thinking about how it's been a year and how, you know, we're at this- it's almost weird to call it an anniversary-

Jennie: Yeah.

Becca: Because anniversaries have, like-

Jennie: Happy things?

Becca: Really positive connotations, right? But like, this is such a sobering demarcation of time, I think, because at this point, we can really- we are really starting to see the damage and we are really starting to understand the severe harm that has been done by the Dobbs ruling. We're seeing the human cost of what has happened. You know, I feel like every time I open Twitter or, like, look at the news, there's another story about a pregnant person who had to become septic before they got care. Or you know, a physician who is on trial for providing. It's just, it's completely- it feels dystopian, but at the same time, it also feels normal in this really terrifying way.

Jennie: Yeah. I have to say it- how fast it became, like, normal is terrifying.

Becca: Yeah, and I wonder what it's like for people who are kind of outside the RJ sphere. Because I think for those of us who follow this stuff really closely, we've been prepared for this moment for a long time, right? And, like, you and I have talked about so many times I'm based in Tennessee, so I'm in the South. It's been post-Roe down here for a minute, but it is worse now than it ever was. And it's just- yeah, it's wild to be having these conversations with people where they're like “I'm pregnant and I'm not sure if I can live in this state while I go through my pregnancy 'cause what if something happens and I can't get the care I need? So, maybe I move out of state.” Like, it's just very strange to be having these conversations. And it also makes me think of the people who don't have the privilege to consider that as an option. I think that something that kinda keeps me going is that, you know, the abortion funds post-Dobbs have been doing incredible work in the face of really extreme circumstances. And they've helped a lot of people who otherwise would not have been able to travel to get care be able to get that care. But yeah, this year has been, it's been hard. It's been a really, really hard year.

Jennie: I'm just, like, thinking through again, like, that normalization, like, you would see like that- the first story or two about some pregnant person's life being put at risk because they weren't able to access care. And it was like everywhere, right? It was like-

Becca: Mm-hmm.

Jennie: Blasted everywhere. Hearing the, like, first wave of stories of people who were impacted by not being able to get abortions. And then it slowly started to, like, shrink in. And like, now I feel like I am seeing it from, like, the usual repro people and not, like, in the broader sphere as much anymore of regular media. And maybe that's just 'cause I follow the RJ people and like the repro reporters. But like, I really feel like seeing the scope of reporting in, like, the mainstream media has fallen a bit. I'm sure we'll see a spike right now around the one-year date. But that's so frustrating how it just quickly became kind of business as usual.

Becca: Yeah, I think that's really true. And for the past few weeks, I've been doing a series for my newsletter with Reckon News where I talk to different leaders of abortion funds. And what everyone has told me is that, you know, in June, when the decision came down, or even in May when the decision leaked, there was this huge flood of support, right? That allowed the funds to kind of scale up and prepare for this moment. But as the sort of panic and crazy headlines faded from the mainstream, they've lost a lot of that support, it's really dwindled. However, the need has not dwindled. And I'm glad that we're talking about this too in the context of normalization because that really is part of it. You start to- the water slowly gets hotter and then it's boiling and the thing about the frog—it's a dumb metaphor—but the point is, you do kind of get used to circumstances and I think for people who don't have this in front of them every single day, they- it's hard to remember that this is affecting people's lives and that this is actively harming people every single day. I also think we've seen a massive shift in the way that content is, um, in the social media algorithm-

Jennie: Oh yeah.

Becca: So, I know…yeah, you, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Jennie: I think it's worth pointing out 'cause I think if you're not experiencing it, like, you might not see it.

Becca: Totally. I mean I, as you know, like, I have been writing about repro for seven or eight years at this point. And listen, like stories about abortion or reproductive justice or the ways that all of that is being policed, they've never been top traffic earners at any place that I've ever worked. And you know, people have written about that really beautifully. But now with Facebook and Twitter and Instagram's algorithms changing, my work has been buried to such a degree that I'm getting very little interaction with readers. And that's really scary. And I think it's really exacerbating the problem, right? If people don't know what's happening, if people can't see it, then it kind of fades from, from the milieu. It kind of fades from mind. So, it's really frustrating as a reporter who's calling is to get information to people that that information is being buried and there's just nothing I can do about it. And I know the funds are experiencing this, too. If they post something that's like saying, you know, “we need support for this person,” they're not getting interaction 'cause they're getting buried by the algorithm.

Jennie: I have to say, like, I'm absolutely seeing the same thing too. Like, when I'm sharing episodes or things, like, people aren't seeing it, like, but to understand the scope of what Becca is talking about- I interact with Becca when I see her things. I interact with Jess and Imani at Rewire, when I see their things. I do not see them anymore. Very rarely do they show up. Like, at times I was, like, are they just, like, did they leave Twitter? Like, are they gone? And then you would, like, go to their timeline and, like, there's like tons of things posted. Like, I am just not seeing people who are talking about our things anymore showing up and it's so frustrating.

Becca: A hundred percent.

Jennie: And harmful!

Becca: Completely, and it's been especially stark to me with Imani's work. ‘Cause Imani is everywhere. I mean, she's just on top of it always, she's always tweeting.

Jennie: And I never see her anymore.

Becca: I'm always reading her tweets, always learning something new and she's just like, not in my feed anymore. And it's, it's like, what- this is one of the leaders and the ways that we talk about this stuff. If she's getting buried, then the conversation more broadly is being buried. And that's really disturbing.

Jennie: And again, like if people aren't seeing the information like then they don't know what is happening. And there's real harm happening in so many states to so many people.

Becca: And I think too, you know, there's still so many people who don't really understand what the past year has meant and don't really understand what exactly has happened. So I, you know, I talk to a lot of college students. I talk to a lot of young adults in my line of work and some of them aren't aware that abortion isn't legal in the United States anymore. And the reasons for that are complicated and there are a lot of them. But, you know, I think that also means that, you know, we in the media have some serious soul-searching to do and some serious work to do in figuring out how to get information to people who aren't getting it.

Jennie: It feels like one of those things of like- you're living your life and you don't see the information until you need it, right?

Becca: Yes, a thousand percent.

Jennie: And that's, and that's a problem, right? If you're not paying attention to the space because- for any myriad of very valid reasons, but then all of a sudden you need it and then find out it doesn't exist in your state anymore. Like, that's an extra layer of like complication that you are having to then navigate trying to find- figure out where you can go or like all of a sudden then not understanding you can go somewhere else or access it online or any various things. It just makes it that much harder.

Becca: I think the other thing that people maybe don't understand so much is the way that this Supreme Court and the way that the attack on abortion rights has really affected democracy more broadly. So, we're seeing anti-choice Republicans really coming for all number of basic human rights. We're seeing this backlash against trans healthcare. We're seeing this backlash against LGBTQ rights more broadly. And we're also seeing them going to more drastic measures to make sure that that stuff happens. So, here in Tennessee—and this was over gun rights, but it's not a coincidence that the three lawmakers that were ousted from the Tennessee house are also pro-choice lawmakers. You know, that's an assault on democracy. That's an assault on the representation of the people. You know, in Iowa recently there was the Iowa Supreme Court hearing over the six-week abortion ban. It was deadlocked. So, abortion remains legal in Iowa. But now, there's this movement to try to take one of the justices that voted against the six-week ban and get him off the bench. It's, like, we're in this place too where Republicans are like, "okay, so now we have this great big victory that we've been planning for a generation and let's see just how far we can take it. Let's see if we can completely reshape the face of democracy so that it is not a democracy anymore. So, it's a little bit more fascist. And wonder what we could do then?" It's really, really disturbing. If there's- I don't wanna like, prioritize things over other things 'cause everything is just kinda horrible. But that is the thing that is like really keeping me up at night. Because the harm can get so much greater if we don't have the checks and balances of democracy to sort keep the scales even.

Jennie: Oh, that leads perfectly ‘cause I was gonna ask like, what are you worried about right now? And I think the democracy part is, like, a huge thing right now that-

Becca: That's what I'm worried about.

Jennie: -you're hearing about in specific spaces. And I think to a lot of people who aren't in those spaces, it can feel really disconnected and separate from this conversation. But you know, you hear it in the global space with, like, the spread of authoritarianism-

Becca: Mm-hmm.

Jennie: -and, like, you're seeing a lot of the anti-human rights stuff spreading in those spaces as well. And so, you are seeing it in, like, targeted specific contexts but in a broader conversation, I think a lot of people aren't just familiar with how these are interlinked.

Becca: Yeah, a hundred percent. And I think another thing that's sort of exacerbating the limits of the conversation is that newsrooms are shrinking. You know, we just saw a couple weeks ago it was- I forget exactly what the number was but it was just a record number of journalists have been laid off in the past year because we're losing our newsrooms. They're not funded. We don't have- there's not enough money. People aren't able to support their news resources because everyone's pulled in a million different directions financially. And there are reasons for that, as well—there's also corporate greed, but I don't need to get into the whole thing here—but it is a problem when there are fewer journalists to report out the news, to investigate the injustices, to write the analytical pieces about, like, what it means to have an assault to this scale on our democracy. I mean, I don't, I don't understand how we're supposed to really fully reckon with those things if there's not- if there aren't journalists to start that conversation.

Jennie: And I think that feeds right back to the conversation we were having about, like, so many people not knowing what's happening, right? Like, a big target of, like, losing journalists is, like, local newsrooms, state-based local reporting that is taking really hard hits. And so, if you're not having reporters doing that reporting on what's happening in your state, like, how are you supposed to get that information?

Becca: Well, and that's the other thing too, and I'm really, really glad you brought that up. Local news essentially doesn't exist in a lot of places anymore. So, my hometown- I'm from a really, really rural county, there's a little county paper, it's where I started my career at 15 years old with a really embarrassing column—we won't get into that—but the point is that newspaper exists but it's run by, like, one person and it's all, you know, just, like, submitted photos of, you know, "Billy shot his first buck this weekend" or like "Myrtle Rose's 90th birthday is coming up." You know, like, and those are like community things and they're valid. I'm not saying that that shouldn't be in the newspaper, what I'm saying is that it should be in the newspaper alongside bigger community news, alongside questions about what the city council is doing and what's happening in the county and, like, how public funds are being used. You know, like, and that just does not exist. And the paper, the more metropolitan paper in the county next over is going through the same thing and now it's also down to one person. And it's just like one person can't produce news and edit and publish and investigate and write about these broader issues. And I think the other thing that bothers me about this dynamic, too, is that we know from research that pregnant people in rural counties are the ones who are suffering the most, right? Like they already didn't have great access to OBGYN care. They already didn't have great access to healthcare more broadly. So, they're the ones suffering. We're not hearing all of those stories because there is no news in those areas. Because those people are so shut off from the rest of the world. So, I think that we don't have a good idea of exactly how much harm has been done because those stories just aren't being documented. They're not being recorded, they're not being told.

Jennie: And I would just add this to like other mélange in that area of like- I absolutely understand what Becca was doing. We've had this- I was talking about, we've had this conversation before. I'm from a rural area of Wisconsin, so I get the like-

Becca: Small town girls.

Jennie: Yes, I get the, like, paper issue. My mom has been dealing with that. But- and then add on top of that, no broadband internet, right?

Becca: Yup.

Jennie: Like, my mom does not have broadband internet. It's a little better right now than it has been in the past, but, like, it's still not amazing. And then- so the local papers aren't particularly great. So, they used to get the Wisconsin State Journal out of Madison but because of cutbacks they are not delivering it anymore; they can get it mailed. So, that means written paper that was already, you know, oldish news by the time you got it is another day delayed because they're mailing it instead of taking it out for delivery that morning. So, like, they canceled the subscription 'cause like, what's the point of getting two-day-old news? So, I mean, you're just seeing it in multiple, like, cascading effects. And so, like, my mom obviously has subscriptions to other, like, digital ones, but it's not the same.

Becca: Yeah, a hundred percent. And I think so many of these communities, because they've lost their news source, they're relying on Facebook, which then ties back to the problem we were talking about with the algorithm that filters what they see. It's just, you know, we're in this massive information crisis right now I think where, you know, people who need information aren't getting it or they're getting disinformation and there's no way to combat that with the infrastructure that we have right now. And that's another thing that I really wish more people were talking about, specifically within the context of what's happened to access to reproductive healthcare.

Jennie: And I think this is a conversation I've had on other episodes of like the anti-rights people are putting out so much disinformation and are so good at coordinating it between the multiple forms of anti-rights, whether that's anti-trans, anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ, any number…anti-gender in general. They're so good at having similar simple disinformation points that they kinda overwhelm like- it's like playing whack-a-mole but there are so many that you can't keep up with trying to get all that disinformation countered.

Becca: A hundred percent. I mean think about anti-abortion billboards, for example. So, those billboards are all over the rural south—and they're all over the south in general, but particularly in the rural south—and it's disinformation, it's a photo of an infant and it says something like "at six weeks, I have a heartbeat." You know, you go and talk to people in these communities, which I do regularly 'cause that's where I'm from and they don't know that that's not true. They have no way of knowing that that billboard isn't legitimate information. So that's- they're driving around town, they're all these facts that are incorrect about abortion, but that's all they have to go on. And I think that's really, really damaging. But you're right in that, like, the anti-abortion movement and the right in general has been really good at disseminating disinformation, spreading it to the masses.

Jennie: And a lot of money behind it.

Becca: So. Much. Money.

Jennie: Ok, so, this is all, this is all like such a bummer.

Becca: Yes.

Jennie: Let's talk about what's giving you hope. What-

Becca: Yeah.

Jennie: What is giving you hope right now? 'Cause there are things that are giving me hope or that I'm excited about. So, let's start with you. What is giving you hope right now?

Becca: When I tell you the power in these, like, grassroots abortion funds, you know- again, mostly in the South because I'm from here and I'm obsessed with it—I'm so sorry, that's just who I am—but y'all like the organizing that's happening here and the ways that abortion fund workers are just determined to do whatever they can to help people and meet people where they're at, even in the face of such horrific circumstances, in the face of the fact that patients and clients need more money now than ever because they're having to travel further to get care and that means more time off of work and that means more childcare. And you know, and I know y'all have talked about on the podcast before about how those expenses really pile up. I just think that the funds have been doing really incredible work and that's why I have been doing this series in the newsletter spotlighting them because I don't think it's well known the barriers that these funds are having to overcome and I just, yeah, I'm so inspired by them every day. I had a conversation yesterday with Oriaku Njoku, who was at ARC Southeast and now is over at National Network of Abortion Funds. They're fantastic. And they were talking about all the joy that they find in their work in organizing and dreaming about the future of reproductive healthcare and it just lightened my heart a little bit. I feel so lucky that I get to have those conversations and I hope that when people hear those conversations or read them, they get to feel the same way. But yeah, I’m just like- the people who are really fighting in this keep me going. And also, like, the young people. And when I'm talking young people, I'm talking, like, high school, college age. These kids are so mobilized and there's so much- I dunno if I wanna say smarter, but, like, better informed I think than I was at their age and more politically engaged. And that also has been, you know, such a big deal to me. I did a talk at Jackson State Community College, which is a school near where I grew up and, you know, it's mostly, like, lower-income students and God, it was like the best thing that's ever happened to me, just, like, getting to be in that classroom and talk to those kids. So, I think sometimes there's this rhetoric of like, "oh, you know, like the younger folks take everything for granted because they were born into Roe and blah blah blah blah," and that's, I don't know, like, that's not what I am experiencing. I mean nothing is ever simple truth, you know—people contain multitudes. But I have really been seeing younger folks get super politically engaged and be dedicated to understanding the issues and getting information, educating themselves. And that is just- it just makes my cold dead heart beat a little bit. It's nice.

Jennie: Uh, "yes and" to all of that, like, absolutely agree with all of those points. I will add in We Testify and getting storytellers-

Becca: Yes.

Jennie: -out there telling their stories of abortion access to show the full range of stories, the range of people and why they get them. And such important work to break down the stigma of one story at a time. And the work that We Testify and Renee Bracey Sherman are doing is just amazing. And then the second thing I will say just happened—Julie Rickelman getting confirmed-

Becca: Yes, I saw that!

Jennie: -to the First Circuit, lifetime appointment. Former attorney with the Center for Reproductive Rights. Argued abortion rights in front of the Supreme Court, actually had her on the podcast back then. Like she is amazing. And now, she is on the U.S. First Circuit. Like, that is giving me hope and excitement.

Becca: A thousand percent. Julie, we're cheering you on girl. And I also wanna go back to what you just said about We Testify. Renee Bracey Sherman has been building power and building community in such incredible ways for so long, but over the past year what she has done was We Testify is nothing short of completely incredible. I mean she has grown that organization. She has gone before Congress. I think they just had, like, a retreat that was, like, summer camp-themed and she is just, she's so dedicated to this fight and so dedicated to showing that abortion stories are not cookie cutter and that people live these complicated nuanced lives. And I just, God, I so appreciate her and the work that she's doing.

Jennie: And to her storytellers, making sure that they’re supported-

Becca: A thousand percent.

Jennie: -and, like, feeling love and just, like, just amazing.

Becca: It's the best.

Jennie: Okay. So, let's wrap up with- I always loved to end with: what can the audience do? So, we're coming on the one-year anniversary, or it just happened actually when you're hearing this. So, what can our audience do for their own commemoration or fighting back?

Becca: I really wanna challenge folks who are in this fight, who understand the harm that's being done to people's lives, to set up recurring donations with your local abortion funds. I'm always gonna say, you know, prioritize BIPOC-led abortion funds, and, you know, funds that are led by low income and queer folks. That's not to say that, like, the larger legacy organizations aren't important, but you know, I think those grassroots organizations are really where it's at right now and they're so well positioned to be providing mutual aid in ways that are also safe in the current situation. So, you know- and I think the importance of setting up recurring donations is then, you know, you're giving no matter what, right? You're giving through the times of feast and the times of famine. And It's just a more consistent practice and I think it goes a little bit further. I would also encourage supporting organizations like We Testify who do all kinds of amazing work to erase abortion stigma and to really educate people about reproductive healthcare.

Jennie: I think the one thing I would add just because it's timely is: it is appropriation season in Congress, so that means they are gonna be marking up bills to fund the federal government. It is important that your congresspeople know that abortion rights, family planning are important to you both globally and domestically, and that you do not support abortion bans in any way. So, that means getting rid of Hyde and Helms and to make sure that they know that their constituency—that is what you want. Right? That you wanna make sure that Title X is funded, that you wanna make sure international family planning is funded, that you wanna make sure sex education is funded. You wanna make sure there's no Hyde, there's no Helms, that we're funding the United Nations Population Fund. So, reaching out to your congressperson and saying- and letting them know that's important to you right now is a great time to do it. You know, all of those are important at all times, but like right now in particular, and like, especially from like the global side is the side that gets left out a lot and-

Becca: Mm-hmm.

Jennie: -not very many people write about it. So, like your voice- hearing from a couple people about, like, why international family planning is important could actually make a huge difference in a way that some of the other things can't. But, like, still ask for all of it.

Becca: A thousand percent. Everything you just said. Cosign.

Jennie: And it's gonna be an ugly fight and there's, like, huge budget cuts that they're proposing this year. So, like, it's really important to make your voice heard around these things at this moment.

Becca: Yeah.

Jennie: Becca, thank you for ending on a positive note. It was nice to end with hope-

Becca: Anytime.

Jennie: -and like what, what is, what other things we're looking forward to. So, thank you for doing this again.

Becca: Yeah, anytime. Thank you so much for having me.

Jennie: Okay y'all, I hope you enjoyed my interview with Becca. I really am glad we ended on good news and things that are giving us hope because there is so much giving us hope even in these really dark times. So, yeah, hold onto what is giving you hope for this very long fight ahead. And with that, I will see y'all in two weeks.

If you have any questions, comments, or topics you would like us to cover, always feel free to shoot me an email. You can reach me at jennie@reprosfightback.com or you can find us on social media. We're at @RePROsFightBack on Facebook and Twitter or @reprosfb on Instagram. If you love our podcast and wanna make sure more people find it, take the time to rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform. Or if you wanna make sure to support the podcast, you can also donate on our website at reprofightback.com. Thanks all!