Episodes

Criminalization drives stigma, harms public health, and violates human rights. The imposition of criminal penalties exist across the U.S. and around the world, and it creates barriers to adequate and comprehensive health care for many populations. Beirne Roose-Snyder from the Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE) and Preston Mitchum from Advocates for Youth sit down with us to discuss how criminalization negatively impacts access to multiple types of care for the most vulnerable in our society.

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We have previously talked about how the Trump administration is working to reshape the federal judiciary by implementing anti-choice and anti-science judges throughout the judiciary system in the U.S. Today, Brigitte Amiri with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) talks to us about important abortion-related cases that are currently working their way through the court system, and how these cases may have the ability to impact abortion access around the country.

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Last year, the Trump-Pence administration removed information on reproductive health and rights from the State Department’s annual Human Rights Reports, effectively communicating that reproductive rights are not human rights. Stephanie Schmid with the Center for Reproductive Rights talks to us about the removal of reproductive health and rights information from the annual Human Rights Reports and what that means for SRHR around the world.

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It’s no secret that abortion access and reproductive healthcare have been under attack in the U.S. recently. Elizabeth Nash and Megan Donovan from the Guttmacher Institute sit down with us to discuss what abortion access currently looks like in the United States, and how some states are standing up and fighting back.

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Sexual and reproductive health and rights discussions, especially in today’s world, can often be depressing, bleak, or just a bit of a downer. But on January 22nd, the 46th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, New York recently passed proactive legislation called the Reproductive Health Act (RHA), which modernizes a state law that previously limited when people could access legal abortion care.

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Any conversation we have about reproductive health, reproductive freedom, bodily autonomy, or abortion should include detailed discussions of all of the available options on how abortion care can be accessed-- and that includes self-managed abortion. Self-managed abortion is not a new concept, but it has been historically accessed in unsafe and secretive ways. With the current administration’s constant attacks on reproductive health and rights, as well as the shifting of the Supreme Court with the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh, abortion rights are being undermined and many fear the return of unsafe, self-managed abortion methods. Megan Donovan with the Guttmacher Institute talks to us about the evolving ways in which self-managed abortion is becoming a more easily accessible, safe, and effective option.

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It is critical that young people around the world are engaged and informed on sexual and reproductive health and rights. Uganda has one of the youngest populations in the world, with over 75 percent of the population under the age of 35. Maureen Andinda with Reach a Hand Uganda chats with us about the importance of young people’s knowledge of sexual and reproductive health and young people’s role in combating SRHR challenges.

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Over the past year, sexual and reproductive health and rights have endured unending attacks from the administration, Congress, and state legislatures. This year, women and girls around the country have watched as access to vital reproductive health services and funding have hung in the balance. Jacqueline Ayers with Planned Parenthood reviews 2018 with us, and talks through the ups and downs of SRHR this past year.

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The Trump administration is reshaping our judicial landscape. During his time in office, Trump has sent 157 judicial nominees to the Senate. Of those, about a quarter of them have documented anti-choice records, which is bad news for reproductive and sexual health and rights. To help explain the sometimes daunting task of understanding the judiciary system under Trump, Kate Ryan from NARAL Pro-Choice America sits down with us!

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Betsy DeVos, the United States Secretary of Education, has proposed changes to Title IX, a federal civil rights law which is meant to protect students from sex discrimination within education programs. These changes would severely undermine the rights of sexual assault survivors. Shiwali Patel with National Women’s Law Center helps us understand the dangers these changes to Title IX may bring.

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In the United States today, there are more than 8 million citizens who live with at least one family member who may be undocumented. Yesenia Chavez with the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (NLIRH) and Jaclyn Dean with the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) talk to us about the fight for access to healthcare for immigrants.

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This week we are doing things a little differently! We talked to a number of amazing SRHR heroes and heard their stories of how they got into working in the reproductive justice or sexual and reproductive health and rights space.

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SRHR isn’t just about domestic and international policies on gender-based violence, unintended pregnancy and STI’s. While that’s very important, pleasure is also a critical part of sexual and reproductive health and rights! Bergen Cooper from the Center for Health and Gender Equity sits down to talk to us about why pleasure matters when discussing reproductive health.

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September 30, 2018, marked the 42nd anniversary of the Hyde Amendment. It’s no secret that abortion care can be a costly expense for women around the country. As a result of the Hyde Amendment, about 7.4 million women ages 15-49 who have health insurance through Medicaid cannot use their insurance to cover abortion in most circumstances. Kelsey Ryland with All* Above All sits down with us to discuss the details of the Hyde Amendment related to abortion funding restrictions, how it affects women, and why it must go.

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SRHR, or sexual and reproductive health and rights, is the sum of rights and health issues that are related to human reproduction. Sexual health, sexual rights, reproductive health and reproductive rights are a complex and intersecting set of issues that address full control over individual’s sexual and reproductive lives and maintenance of a state of physical, mental and social well being. Nina Besser-Doorley from the International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC) explains the components of SRHR and how it is currently faring in the domestic and global arena.

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Comprehensive sexuality education refers to sequential learning between grades K-12, where young people are building education and skills related to medically-accurate and scientific topics that are age, developmentally, and culturally appropriate and related to a host of sexual health issues. These issues include human development, healthy relationships, communication, pregnancy and reproduction, HIV and STD prevention, and sexual health and behaviors, including abstinence. The goal of sex education is to equip young people with the skills and knowledge they need to live sexually healthy lives. So why is it such a contentious battleground in the U.S.? Jesse Boyer with the Guttmacher Institute talks to us about sex education across the country.

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Crisis Pregnancy Centers are centers that exist to deter pregnant women from receiving abortions. They provide pregnancy tests, anti-abortion counseling and material resources for pregnant women. There are an estimated 2,750 Crisis Pregnancy Centers serving 2.3 million people in the United States today. This number might seem high, but it is actually a low and out of date estimate from 2010. In this episode, we talk to Amy Myrick with the Center for Reproductive Rights about Supreme Court case National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra and what it would mean for Brett Kavanaugh to replace Justice Kennedy.

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Title X is the national family planning and reproductive health program for low income women and men enacted by Congress and signed into law by President Richard Nixon in 1970. The bipartisan program was intended to combat the war on poverty; low income women were having more children than higher income women due to poor access to contraception and its high costs. Title X was created to equalize access to modern contraceptive care, and the program still fulfils that promise today. Clare Coleman, President of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA), talks to us about NFPRHA, Title X, and what we can do to save Title X from the current administration’s unprecedented attacks.

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Meghla Akter was almost forced into marrying a 30 year old man at 13, when her mother threatened to kill herself if she didn’t go through with the marriage. She managed to escape to a friend’s house, where she took refuge. Her mother refused to talk to her for three months and restricted her education. With time, Meghla was able to return to school and about to start at university.

At 18, she wants to help other girls and boys who are facing similar situations. Meghla currently serves as the vice-chairperson of the World Vision’s Child Forum, where she works to prevent child marriage in Bangladesh. Listen to Meghla’s interview here!

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In Rajasthan, India, child marriage is a tradition. But, the practice isn’t limited only to the one northwestern state; while child marriage is a global issue, India has the highest number of child brides in the world. While over the last decade, India has witnessed one of the largest declines in child marriage rates, it is estimated that 27% (down from 50%) of girls in India are married before their 18th birthday. Arvind Ojha with Urmul Trust and one of the founding members of Girls Not Brides talks to us about how child marriage specifically impacts young girls in India.

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