Episodes

Being a teenager can be scary and confusing, especially when it comes to your sexual and reproductive health. Teenagers in Zambia feel like they can’t approach their families or health clinics for information and services, especially when it comes to pregnancy and HIV prevention. Inonge Wina-Chinyama, an advocate with Marie Stopes International (MSI) Zambia, talks to us about how MSI is integrating HIV, contraception/ pregnancy prevention, and other general services in order to reach teenagers seeking sexual and reproductive health services in Zambia.

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The global gag rule, also known as the ‘Mexico City Policy,’ is a U.S. foreign policy that prohibits non-U.S., non-governmental organizations from using their own private funds to provide comprehensive abortion care, counseling for abortion, referral for abortion, or organizing/lobbying/conducting public campaigns in support of abortion on the condition of receiving global health funding. The rule has appeared under previous Republican administrations, but under the current administration it has been vastly expanded. Two years in to the expanded global gag rule, there are a plethora of negative effects. Vanessa Rios from the International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC) and Jade Maina from TICAH talk to us about IWHC’s new report and why the global gag rule must go.

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Since the day President Trump took office, there have been countless attacks on the health, rights, and well-being of transgender people. Katelyn Burns, a freelance journalist covering LGBTQ and reproductive health issues and the first openly transgender reporter on Capitol Hill joins us to talk about allthe ways in which the current administration has undermined the health and rights of transgender individuals.

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It’s no secret that there are a wealth of contraceptive methods that exist today, including methods like the birth control pill, the hormonal or non-hormonal IUD, the implant, the patch, and many more! Still, there are people around the world whose contraception needs are simply not being met. Julia Bunting with the Population Council sits down with us to discuss the need to continue the development of innovative contraceptive methods, and how her organization is leading the charge.

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Abortion funds are grassroots organizations that are locally rooted and predominately volunteer-powered. They aid in removing financial and logistical barriers that people face when trying to access abortion care, while simultaneously advocating against the political and cultural barriers that make their work necessary. Abortion funds pay for abortions, pay for and organize transportation to appointments, arrange childcare and housing, and some even provide emotional support through doula access. Yamani Hernandez, Executive Director of the National Network of Abortion Funds (NNAF), talks to us about the importance of abortion networks during a time where abortion access across the U.S. is facing a blatant attack.

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Often when we have conversations that feature both reproductive health and rights and faith, it seems the two subjects are diametrically opposed. But thanks to the large amount of diversity in the faith community, many individuals, communities, and organizations are supportive of bridging the gap between faith and reproductive health and rights! Reverend Katey Zeh, Executive Director for the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, host of the Kindreds Podcast, and author of the book Women Rise Up: Sacred Stories of Resistance for Today’s Revolution, sits down with us to discuss why it’s important for people of faith to show public support for reproductive health and rights.

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In Malawi, 2 in 5 sexually active unmarried women have an unmet need for contraception. In Zimbabwe, fewer than half of adolescents have comprehensive knowledge about HIV/AIDS. And each year, one million Tanzanian women have an unintended pregnancy. Thandie Msukuma from Malawi, Dr. Lilian Benjamin Mwakyosi from Tanzania, and Hilda Zenda from Zimbabwe, advocates from the Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE), sit down with us to talk about what we can do to expand access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care for young people in these African countries.

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Over the past couple of weeks, state legislatures around the U.S. have been passing six week bans, otherwise known as “heartbeat bans”. These extreme and unconstitutional abortion laws seek to ban the legal procedure once a fetal heart tone in an embryo is detected, which can be as early as six weeks in pregnancy. Jessica Pieklo, Vice President of Law and Courts at Rewire.news and co-host of the Boom! Lawyered podcast, and Imani Gandy, Senior Legal Analyst with Rewire.news, co-host of the Boom! Lawyered podcast, and founder of Angry Black Lady Chronicles, talk to us about this emergency situation and why these “heartbeat bans” are so severe and dangerous.

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The language and the words we use to describe essential sexual and reproductive health services and issues is extremely important. For women of color, the ability to realize and control reproductive health and autonomy is often impacted by other factors like race, poverty, sexism, and more. Jessica Pinckney, Vice President of Government Affairs at In Our Own Voice: the National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda talks to us about reproductive justice as an all-encompassing human rights framework that seeks to ensure choice for all.

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The law in Nigeria only allows abortion in the case of a woman’s life being in danger. Studies in Nigeria have shown that this restrictive law actually increases rates of abortion rather than lowering them. Hauwa Shekarau, country director with Ipas Nigeria, talks to us about the current and major task of working to reduce maternal deaths due to unsafe abortions, reduce complications from unsafe abortions, and enable women to have access to quality reproductive healthcare in Nigeria.

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Everybody who is of voting age has the right to register to vote, vote in an election, and have their votes accurately tallied. It might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about it, but voting rights are an important part of reproductive health, rights, and justice. Marcela Howell, President and CEO of In Our Own Voice, the National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda, sits down with us to discuss why exercising your right to vote is critical in achieving reproductive justice for all.

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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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