Coming soon … Abortion: The Body Politic

Forty-nine years ago, the landmark Roe v Wade decision guaranteed women the right to a safe, legal abortion. This June, the Supreme Court is expected to gut that historic ruling, triggering restrictive abortion laws in at least 23 states. While the United States is on the precipice of stepping back this women’s health right, the rest of the world has seen a trend of liberalizing abortion laws over the past 25 years. In this limited, narrative series from Next Question with Katie Couric, we explore the history — and future — of abortion in this country. In this 6-episode series, Katie takes listeners inside abortion clinics, front row at an abortion comedy show, and shares intimate, first-person experiences of people — from the illegal period to now — who have had abortions and the stories of those who have cared for them. There’s never been a more urgent time to understand how we got here and how reproductive rights can apply to everyone.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I consider my abortion the greatest act of self love
that I did. I chose my life. Women have been
trying to end as successfully ending pregnancies that they didn't
want since time immemorial. We are here at the last
standing abortion clinic in the entire state of Missouri. What

(00:23):
has it been like for the people working here? What
has been like for the people coming here? That's what
we're here to find out. There's twelve twelve recovery chairs
in this area, and there was a time where it
was packed and we were super busy and we would
see fifty patients in a day. But because of the restrictions,
it just is not worth it for patients to jump

(00:46):
through this many hoops. I have all these activist friends
in St. Louis that are in Missouri that are panicking about,
you know, the rovers is wade news in Texas and
Oklahoma and whatever, and I'm like, guys, we're ahead of them.
It's like this is already happened here, Like they just
don't know that, they don't understand, but this has been
going on since late Hi. Everyone, I'm Katie correct. As

(01:10):
you probably know, the Supreme Court is poised to strike
down its landmark seventy three decision Row versus Wade. It's
an historic moment, but the story of abortion has always
been a complicated one, and even Row never met that
it was available to everyone. There's never been a more

(01:32):
urgent time to dive into this issue. Reproductive politics refers
to issues of power. The pro choice framework assumed that
you have choices. Abortion is an issue that touches on
our fundamental ideas about who we are as human beings,
about human life, and about human rights. Coming this June

(01:56):
from Katie Correct Media and I Heart Media is Abort
the Body Politic, an in depth six part series on
the history and future of abortion access. Wow like I
loathe telling my abortion story. Actually, all I could think
when I called planned parenthood was I will not die
because of this pregnancy. It made me resent myself because

(02:19):
of all of the obstacles that I had to face
just to access it. Join me on this journey to
understand how we got here and how we can ensure
that reproductive rights apply to everyone. In areas like the
South and Midwest, for people of color and for trans people,
abortion has never been easy to access, even with Roby Wade.

(02:42):
Rob Wade was never meant to be the endpoint of
pro abortion legislation. It was meant to be the floor
you can find abortion the body politic right here on
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