October 3, 2024 • 49 mins
There's a lot at stake in this election, including women's access to healthcare.
Sophia, a long-standing advocate for reproductive healthcare, shares her conversations about reproductive rights with Vice President Kamala Harris from 2022 at Bryn Mawr College and 2024's "Fight for Reproductive Freedoms" tour.
The discussions center on the fight for the freedom of every American to make decisions about their own bodies, how we got here, and who these attacks affect the most.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey everyone, it's Sophia. Welcome to Work in Progress. Welcome
back to Work in Progress, Whips, smarties and friends. I
(00:21):
am really excited to bring you a special episode today.
It's no secret to any of you who lives in
this country or is engaging in what is happening in
this country that our rights are under attack. These conversations
we're having about our autonomy, about science, medicine, and health
care certainly, and they're also incredibly personal because they're about pregnancy,
(00:45):
pregnancy loss, miscarriage and abortion. And so I just want
to offer a trigger warning to anyone if these are
sensitive subjects for you, I hope you can stay to
hear from the VP, but if it feels hard or overwhelming,
I just wanted to give you a warning, and of
course say take care of yourself first and foremost. And
(01:06):
in the wake of recent tragedies, namely the death of
Amber Nicole Thurman and Georgia, a young mother with a
six year old son who went into the hospital needing
a DNC and was not treated. She was held in
the hospital for twenty hours until she went into septic shock,
and by the time doctors operated on her it was
(01:26):
too late. The sepsis had gone too far and she
passed away. And she's not the only one. Women in
this country are dying because of the abortion bands that
have been instituted across the country by Donald Trump and
his Supreme Court judges and seeing medical boards say with
absolute conviction these deaths were preventable. But these women were
(01:50):
killed because doctors are absolutely terrified to do their duties,
to follow their hippocratic oaths and to save lives because
the Republican Party in America is threatening to jail them
for providing health care. I am apoplectic and heartbroken, and
I've decided to dig into the archives today for you
(02:12):
because a lot of people have said, how could this
have happened? They said this wouldn't happen, They said it
would never get this bad. And I say this with
no pride. I say this with extreme sadness. Those of
us who have been fighting these issues have been screaming
from the rooftops that this would happen. We were called hysterical.
(02:34):
We were told we were overreacting, and we weren't. We're
killing people in our country because of politics, and it's devastating.
And when I'm devastated, I look to the ones who
give me hope. And one of the people who's given
me hope as a Californian for many years in many
(02:57):
elected offices is Kamala Harris. Our Vice President has been
incredible as my state's attorney general, as a United States Senator,
and as the Vice President. She has centered women and
families in her policy. She has chosen to advocate on
behalf of our rights, understanding that our liberty is bound
(03:19):
together for women, for black women, for pregnant women, for
the LGBTQ community, for trans folks. Our autonomy is being attacked,
and over the last couple of years, I've had the
incredible privilege of traveling the country with the Vice President
on her Reproductive Freedom's Tour. She has taken time out
of her schedule regularly to meet with people in every
(03:42):
state to talk about what's at stake here. And in
twenty twenty two I was lucky enough to travel with
her to bring mar College, and in twenty twenty four
I was able to visit San Jose with her and
her team has graciously sent us the audio from those interviews,
and we have decided to cut it into an election
(04:02):
special for all of you today. Because in my mind,
there is just no greater fight. We can't fight about
the economy if we're not alive. We can't better our
schools if our children are parentless. We can't change America
for the better and continue to create more access to
(04:24):
freedom and empowerment and opportunity for people if we're not alive.
So let's take a little journey through the last two
years with Vice President Kamala Harris and understand why this
fight is so personal to her. For this first section
of audio, you will be coming into the auditorium at
(04:46):
Brinmar College with myself and Vice President Harris on October
twenty eighth, twenty twenty two. At this event, we were
joined by Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon, by Admiral Rachel Levine,
and a number of other exceptionally all standing up for
our rights. This is a razor's edge moment in our country.
(05:08):
It is such an incredible, tenuous moment in this fight
for our rights, rights that we have long considered to
be settled law. And I'm very curious, how, with the
plethora of issues, Madam Vice President, that you face in
the administration every day, how have you dedicated so much
time to championing this issue, and why does it matter
(05:31):
to you so much?
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Let's start with.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
From childhood.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
So you see, I was raised, my sister and I
were raised by a mother who had two goals in
her life to raise her two daughters and.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
To end breast cancer.
Speaker 4 (05:49):
My mother was a breast cancer researcher, and she was
one of the very few women as a scientist, and
certainly one of the fewest women of color. And she
would come home at night, you know, I remember vividly,
very upset sometimes about how women were being treated in
(06:11):
the healthcare system. She was always speaking up and fighting
for the dignity of women in the healthcare system, and
in particular as it relates to reproductive health I mean
a word, a phrase that was often spoken at the
dinner table from my childhood on was memory gland. My
(06:32):
mother would talk about memory glands, she would talk about hormones,
she would talk about reproductive health care, about how women
should be treated in a way that gives them not
only a dignity that they rightly are due, but also
information so that they can exercise self determination in the system.
(06:56):
And so that's you know, so from the earliest stage,
and then the majority of my career before joining the
Senate was as a prosecutor, and when I was a
courtroom prosecutor, my specialty throughout those years was on crimes
affecting women and children in crimes of violence. In fact,
I specialized in some of the most horrible cases that
(07:18):
you can imagine. And again it was always about fighting
for the dignity, the safety, and the well being of
women in so many of those circumstances. But to your point,
I mean, look where we are. The highest court in
our land, the United States Supreme Court, just took a
(07:43):
constitutional right that had been recognized from the people of America,
from the women of America. And you know, on this subject,
I think it's important to note that one does not
have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to
(08:03):
agree the government should not be making this decision for her.
But what we are now saying as a result of
the Dobbs decision are laws that are being proposed and
passed around our country that would criminalize health care providers
(08:25):
literally doctors, nurses, other health care providers, send them to jail.
You know, as a practicing attorney, what the consequence of
that is, both in terms of I think the intent
to intimidate and instill fear in these healthcare professionals much
less the intent to punish them. What is happening with
(08:47):
no exception for rape or incest. And again I go
back to my professional career. You're talking about individuals who,
in those cases have experienced the worst kind of act
of violence and violation to their body. And then these
(09:08):
extremist so called leaders would dare to say and suggest
that that individual furthermore, will not have the right to
make decisions about what comes next.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
As it relates to their body.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
This is immoral, it's unconscionable, and they walk around and
want to be hailed as leaders of their whatever.
Speaker 4 (09:43):
That's not what a leader does. That's not what a
leader does, not what a true leader does. So this issue,
it really does relate to a lot of work that
I've done in the past, feel a great sense of
commitment as do we all to stand up and speak
(10:04):
out about it.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
And not only does row falling threaten our bodily autonomy,
but it threatens every other right that has been considered
settled law under our fourteen Amendment, right to liberty. We
are now seeing attacks on access to contraception, ninety six
percent of Republicans just voted against it. So they don't
want us to be able to not get pregnant, and
they also want us to stay pregnant. Interesting, we see
(10:29):
attacks on marriage, we see attacks on our right to privacy.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
There was a movement that was started by people generations
ago that culminated in Roe v.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Wait.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
It is now.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
Incumbent on us who are under this roof together right
now to pick that movement up and to carry it forward.
Speaker 4 (10:56):
And when we think about the history of the greatest
movements in our country that were about progress, progress being
defined as an expansion of rights, not a restriction of rights.
The greatest movements that have been about that kind of progress,
the key ingredient has been the coalition that was built
(11:20):
around those movements. So when I think about it, and
this is what we talked about with the legislators in Pennsylvania,
is because at that table and there were so many
leaders there who represent in their history of work and
in their constituencies, all these groups or a collection of them.
And let's see the power that we have right now
(11:41):
to empower folks who right now are being made to
lose their rights or to have to fight for their rights. Well,
then let's fight together. I strongly believe nobody should be
made to fight alone.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
And it isn't lost on any of us that this
rhetoric that you speak about, this division, we're witnessing half
of our political system, if not more, create chaos by othering.
We're seeing rhetoric across the country that reminds us of
what led to World War Two. We're seeing the demonization
(12:32):
of women and doctors and people who need care. We're
seeing attacks on the LGBTQ community and our trans communities.
And what I think when you speak about coalition building,
the thing I try to remember is that if they're
pushing us into the space where they want us to
look at each other as other, where they want us
(12:53):
to be triggered by the fear of scarcity, the fear
of not enoughness, all we have to remember, for the
those of us who love math and ven diagrams, that
love that about you, is that we have data on
our side now that we didn't have one hundred years ago.
We know if we just pick one of these issues,
if we could create pay parody simply on the gender line,
(13:15):
if we snapped our fingers and women were paid what
men are paid in this country. And this is data
from twenty eighteen, so it might be better now our
GDP would increase by twelve points. So we're not fighting
over the pieces of the pie. If we create equity,
the pie gets bigger. We all do better. Our liberty
is bound together. If we protect the rights of vulnerable groups,
(13:40):
each of us in our own vulnerabilities is better protected.
And that is something I think the administration has been
doing a very incredible job at continuing to highlight and
repeat across all of these issues. And I'm curious how
as you traveled to stay and take part in meetings
(14:02):
like this and see what people are doing to fight back,
how do you look at within the Biden Harris administration
this sort of umbrella of the whole nation and figure
out how to fight back. How does the administration really
figure out both the specific state by state action and
(14:23):
the kind of national policy.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
Well, so we can talk about in the broader issue,
how do we address some of the inequities that you
have rightly pointed out pointed out and equity is one
of the principles by which we have approached.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
All of our work.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
And you know, And let's be clear, what does equity mean, right,
It's different from equality.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
Right.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
Equity is about understanding not everybody starts out on the
same base.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Right.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
Equal would mean everyone gets the same amount. Well, but
if everyone doesn't start out in the same base, the
inequities are still going to exist, right. And so you know,
if you just give equal, you have to recognize the
inequities and then and then give people an equal opportunity
to compete.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
I imagine that that since Dobbs, you must be hearing
from women and families who are going through things that
are unspeakable, and and I I wonder how you carry
their stories, you know, into your office. I wonder how
(15:28):
you carry those stories into the White House.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
That these are the.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
People who we are trying to advocate for. Right, So
how does that affect you personally as you go out
to lead.
Speaker 4 (15:40):
I will tell you there's a lot of fear in
our country right now. And in fact Prop number two
I only have two, but it actually is quite serious
as an issue. So here's a map of the United States,
and the colors here represent the different laws or the
(16:01):
state of affairs in each of the states. So one
of these colors is abortion, banned from conception with no exceptions.
One is banned from conception with an exception for rape
or incest. There's another that is, let's see a six
week band, there's a fifteen week band, there's an eighteen
week ban, there's a You see what I'm saying. This
(16:22):
is the map of the United States in terms of
the state of affairs right now, which tells us a
lot of people are really confused. And what I know
happens when folks are confused is it is then an
environment that is ripe for misinformation, disinformation, and predatory behaviors.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
So one of the reasons that what we are.
Speaker 4 (16:50):
Doing this afternoon is important is to uplift and then
send out accurate information about about the rights that people
have and where they can go for help. Because there's
another issue that is very much at play here that
I think has to also be spoken, which is the
(17:15):
long standing judgment associated with women's sexuality.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
So understand that.
Speaker 4 (17:25):
Understand that, right, So what is happening is that in
this environment it's also thick with judgment, which has the
effect of making the individual feel embarrassed or is meant
to shame her, but certainly will make her feel alone,
(17:51):
which is one of the greatest tools that anyone has
when they want to take someone's power. So we're looking
at a situation where there are people all over our
country who right now are feeling very alone, very confused,
(18:12):
and in that way, feeling helpless. And that is another
piece of this that is so insidious about what is
happening right now in our country. And it is why,
especially to the students who are here, I ask you
to please use all of the creative ways that you
(18:33):
have to communicate with large numbers of people to remind
people they are not alone, To remind people they are
not being judged, to remind them that we stand with
them and that there is so much support for them.
We have to recognize all of the layers of what
(18:56):
is happening right now, because they're are very powerful forces
in our country who are using the bully pulp that
they have to make people afraid, to make people feel small,
and literally to criminalize and punish people for exercising self determination.
(19:21):
And so this is a moment for all good people
to stand and speak.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Hi, friends, I hope you're enjoying this conversation with Vice
President Harris. We are going to step back in in
twenty twenty four in San Jose, California, where I got
to sit at a large event with the VP and
talk about how the landscape changed over the last two years.
Some facts that I think you all should have hand
(20:00):
are that the Trump abortion bands have eliminated some or
all abortion care in twenty two states in this country.
Total bands are in effect in fourteen states. Four states
have six week bands in place Florida, Georgia, Iowa, South Carolina.
Two states have twelve week bands in place North Carolina
and Nebraska, and two states have fifteen to eighteen week
(20:22):
bands in place, Arizona and Utah. We did, I will say, recently,
have some success a hard fought legal battle in Arizona
that was combined with very heroic efforts from state legislatures,
repealed the state's pre row abortion ban. That was a law,
by the way, from eighteen sixty four, when we knew
nothing that we know today about medicine, and that's what
(20:44):
they thought should govern our bodily autonomy. Thankfully we've beat
it back, but the fights still continue state by state.
One thing that I do want to highlight for you
all is that at six weeks most women don't know
they're pregnant, and a lot of these have been passed
based on false information that is meant to emotionally manipulate us.
(21:05):
They call these six week bands heartbeat bands. There is
no such thing as a heart beat. At six weeks.
The gestational tissue of a fetus has not formed a
heart yet. You are actually hearing the electrical pulses from
a mother's body that move through her blood supply into
(21:26):
her uterus. It's not lost on me that they want
to sentence women to death if they have pregnancy complications
because of their own heart beats. This is what we're
up against. Additional states have gestational limits in place beyond
twenty weeks. Unfortunately, we all know that most abortions that
(21:48):
happen after twenty weeks happen due to fetal anomalies. They
happen due to catastrophic and sad loss that families are facing.
And since these bands have gone into place, we have
seen infant mortality increase in some states by horrific, horrific percentages.
And while the former president Donald Trump might be touring
(22:09):
the country stating that he is proud to have overturned
Roe V. Wade because quote everyone wanted this. I don't
think everyone in Texas wanted to see maternal mortality rise
to fifty six percent compared with an eleven percent rise
nationwide during the period that Roe v. Wade was overturned.
I don't think that infant mortality rising by over eight
(22:31):
percent across the country because mothers are being forced to
carry fetuses with fatal anomalies to term is what quote
everybody wanted. But here we are, and I want to
be very clear with our listeners that Donald Trump and
JD Vance, along with their draconian plans under Project twenty
twenty five, have a plan for him to radically alter
(22:54):
the American government and end abortion access nationwide on day one,
using every single lever that they can, even without Congress.
They have printed this plan. This is not hearsay, this
is not hysteria. They put it on the Internet, guys,
it's there. So no matter what he goes out there
and says about being pro fertilization that made me want
to vomit. His party has voted against IVF not once,
(23:17):
but twice. You need to watch what he does and
what the GOP do as a voting block, not what
he says and not what they say. You cannot trust
them on campaign statements, but you can trust their records
on abortion, no matter how you feel about it. We're
all allowed to have feelings and beliefs that we adhere
(23:37):
to in our own lives, but our feelings and beliefs
cannot govern policy. They cannot govern medical science. At no
point in any person's pregnancy is a politician more qualified
to make decisions about your health than you and your doctor.
We have to be really clear on our language here,
(24:00):
and we have to be really clear about the goals
of the right. They knew that abortion bands would kill women,
and they are. They knew that abortion bands would harm families,
and they are. And we have to be frank. As
Sarah Jones says, that when abortion bands kill, they reveal
their true purpose, which is to grant a handful of
extremists the power over the lives and deaths of American women.
(24:23):
When we take into account that nearly one in three
women will experience sexual violence or physical violence in their lifetime,
and that many of these states bands make no exceptions
for rape or incest, it gets worse. One thing I
want to alert you all to friends, is that these
anti abortion, these anti reproductive freedom groups are signaling their
(24:45):
intent to enforce a really terrifying law. It's radical. It's
called the Comstock Act, and they are specifically and on
purpose misinterpreting that act to further rest access to abortion
and contraception. Just so y'all know, you can do your
research here. The Comstock Act is an eighteen hundred's law
(25:09):
about controlling people's sex lives that was passed before women
could vote, and that's how they want us all to live.
If they win, these attacks are going to have consequences
with ripple effects in every single state across the country.
And they share the same goal banning abortion nationwide and
making sexual and reproductive health care inaccessible. They want to
(25:30):
deny you the right to be a parent should you
want to needing IVF. They want to deny you the
right to not be a parent yet, should you want
to using birth control. These are terrifying control mechanisms. And
while these extreme Supreme Court justices may have felt confident
to publish that they believe we need a quote domestic
supply of infants end quote in their reasoning for overturning DOBS,
(25:53):
I don't exactly think any of us signed up to
be breeders for a future America population against our will.
This is an attack on us, and this is an
attack that goes so far beyond just the question of abortion,
but to reproductive healthcare in general. They are coming for
birth control, they are coming for IVF. Republicans have voted
(26:14):
down a bill that would protect IVF twice this year.
They just voted down a bill that would protect our
access to contraception, and their presidential candidate is out campaigning
on taking contraception away from us. This election is about
two different visions for the future of America. One is
a vision where everyone gets more free and has more
rights and more access to all things, not just healthcare,
(26:37):
but economic opportunity, and the other is a draconian control
mechanism to create an oligarchy and the rest of us
just have to suffer in it. We are in a
crisis point, and I got to speak about that exact
crisis point with the Vice President in San Jose in
twenty twenty four. I mean, how cool is this? Before
(27:02):
we get into serious business, I just personally want to
extend to thank you. We did this for the first time,
having a conversation like this one two years ago on
a college campus across the country, and day in and
day out, while you are in the position to hold
the issues of the world, you keep our rights a
(27:23):
top issue in the administration and in the White House
and on behalf of all women and potentially pregnant people.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
Ever, I just thank you.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
Okay, So we are in a moment as a nation,
and I'm curious from your vantage point, how you see
it and why you have decided to lead this fight
for Reproductive Freedom's tour.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
Well, first of all, it's great to be with you, Sophia,
and thank you for sharing the stage and.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
For using your voice.
Speaker 4 (27:58):
The topic for today here is the topic of what
has happened in our country after the Dobbs decision, which
took away the right of people to make decisions about
their own body and has resulted in extreme harm. And
so I'm going to get back to the issue because
it's an important one and we should not be distracted
(28:19):
from any important issue. So what we're talking about, what
we're looking at in these states, for example, that have
made no exception even for raper incest. Now many of you,
this is my I grew up in California, in the
Bay Area. Many of you know my career, so you
(28:41):
know that I started my career as a prosecutor. What
you may not know is one of the biggest reasons why.
When I was in high school, one of my closest friends,
one of my best friends, I learned was being molested
by her stepfather. And when I learned, I said to her,
you have to come and stay with us. I called
(29:02):
my mother and my mother said, of course she does,
and she came to stay with us. And I decided
at a very early age I wanted to do everything
I could to protect women and children from harm, and
I specialized for a long time in my career as
a prosecutor, including when I was working as ag on
(29:23):
crimes affecting women and children, no exception even for rape
or incests. Let's understand what that means. It means that
these so called leaders are saying to a survivor of
a crime of violence to their body, a violation to
their body.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
That they don't have the right to make a decision
about what happens to their body next. That's immoral. This
is what's happening around our country. So when we talk
about the layers of harm, be it harm to our democracy,
harm to our constitution, harm to our freedoms in our rights,
(30:05):
and we then understand the real harm that also exists
every day for individuals who are being denied the health
care they need. It's extraordinary and for that reason, I
know we all are approaching this with a sense, yes,
of empathy and understanding, but also profound commitment, with a
(30:30):
sense of urgency to do something about it, to end
the pain and the suffering that is happening right now
in real time in our country.
Speaker 4 (30:39):
And so that's the issue as much as anything, and
the way that we are going to ultimately deal with
this is to one have some consensus which I do
believe exists, which is that one does not have to
abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the
(31:03):
government should not be telling her what to do with her.
Speaker 5 (31:06):
Body if she chooses.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
If she chooses, she will.
Speaker 4 (31:18):
Consult with her pastor her priests, to rabbi, her a mom,
but not the government telling her what to do. And
so we need this November to elect a majority of
people in the United States Congress who simply agree, is
not the government's right to tell a woman what's in
(31:38):
her own best interest when she knows what's in her
own best interest and doesn't need some person walking around
with a flag pin to tell her what to do.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
When extremism comes home to roost, whether it's here in
America or around the world, women and girls who suffer worst,
and it can feel overwhelming to try to hold all
of these issues. I know, for me as a citizen,
I look to you, and I can't imagine the pressure
you feel with all of us looking to you going
(32:15):
tell us what to do. But one of the things
that you often encourage us to do when we feel
helpless in the face of global suffering and of the
suffering of women and girls and at risk people, is
to get involved locally. Yes, that's why you're here on
a local tour with us talking about this issue while
(32:35):
you daily hold all the rest of them. And I'm
curious for those of us who you know, don't get
the binders and the briefings. What should we be doing
in our states and what can we encourage our states
to do, and what can states do across the nation
to fight back and protect our reproductive freedoms.
Speaker 3 (32:55):
That's great, So I'll start with this part of the
vironment in which this issue exists, is an environment that
is heavily laden with judgment, suggesting to these individuals, suggesting
to these women that they've done something wrong and something
(33:16):
they should be embarrassed about.
Speaker 4 (33:20):
And understand them the layers that come along with that
that include making her feel as though she's alone. And
as we know, one of the things that can be
most disempowering is when people feel their alone, when they
feel they don't have community, much less support, when they
(33:40):
feel they're being judged and outcast as opposed to embraced.
And so this is the power of each of us
as individuals in a community, in a society on every level,
including this one, which is to think about how you
use the way that you talk with people, be it
(34:01):
you know, mom, peg, I see you here, my mother
in law's here.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
That's going to be by the telephone.
Speaker 4 (34:08):
Or text or social media, but the ways that we
can talk with people, friends and strangers about the issue
to remind them about what's at stake and the harm
that is happening every day. I have seen as I
am traveling the country on this issue, I've seen the
(34:28):
power of that communication.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
I have met with people.
Speaker 4 (34:32):
Who started especially before the Dobs decision came down and
were vehement that they were opposed to abortion, and who
have not abandoned their faith and whatever reason it is
for why they feel that way and strongly about themselves
and their family, but also didn't know and weren't aware
of the suffering that would happen as a result, and
(34:56):
now knowing the suffering that is happening, are considering their
position in terms of the policy of it all, the
policy being to deny other people the decision to make
that very important decision for themselves and not the government
telling them.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
So.
Speaker 4 (35:13):
The power of communication on this is very important. I
think there's also another thing that is at play on
so many issues in our country, which is, if you will,
I think a certain thing that is quite perverse that
it is being pushed by some so called leaders, which is
to suggest that the measure of the strength of the
(35:33):
leader is based on who you beat down.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
And said who you lift up.
Speaker 4 (35:38):
Right, you know, there's a thing happening that suggests that
to care about people somehow is assign a weakness, when
we all know that one of the great characteristics and
character of real leadership is the character or that has
(36:00):
some level of concern, curiosity, and compassion about the suffering
of other people and then wants to do something about
alleviating that suffering. So the work that needs to be
done over these next ten months includes using our voices
to really help people understand how this is affecting people
(36:21):
in real time. Because there's nothing abstract about this issue.
There's nothing hypothetical about it is it does not require it,
and it absolutely deserves more than some kind of intellectual
political debate.
Speaker 3 (36:34):
It requires action.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
This is a crisis.
Speaker 3 (36:36):
You're absolutely right, and you're absolutely right.
Speaker 1 (36:38):
I'm just curious, can you walk us through who's responsible
for this? Because this was an intentional crisis indeed, and
you've mentioned that the Supreme Court overturned Row. But can
we can we just cover how we got to that point?
Speaker 2 (36:56):
I think we should. I think we should too.
Speaker 3 (36:58):
It feels appropriate to tell some truth.
Speaker 4 (37:02):
So the former president of the United States hand picked,
hand picked three members of the United States Supreme Court
with the intention that they would undo wrong. Let's be
very clear about it. And he has been very clear
that that is exactly what he intended. Just take him
(37:23):
at his word. Take him at his word when he
said recently he's proud of what he did, and I asked, proud,
Connect Christine Pelosi. I asked, proud, Proud that doctors might
go to jail for giving health care, Proud that women
(37:44):
are having miscarriages without any healthcare that they need.
Speaker 2 (37:51):
Proud that.
Speaker 4 (37:53):
Fundamental freedoms have been taken from the American people. To
understand the arrogance that is associated with the taking, and
then what we are up against. And so this is
why we know what is before us and the fight
(38:13):
that is before us.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
This is a fight that is.
Speaker 3 (38:17):
Fundamental, and it is fundamentally about freedom. Freedom, the freedom
to make decisions about your own body. And understand, as
we step back, there is and I travel our country,
there is a foot, a full on intent to attack hard,
(38:41):
hard won freedoms in our country.
Speaker 4 (38:44):
Just look at what is happening. Look at what is
happening with a don't say gay bill. Okay, So now
let me I will remind my fellow Californians in two
thousand and four, actually Valentine's weekend, two thousand and four,
so it'll be twenty years. I was proud to be
(39:06):
one of the first elected officials in the country to
perform same sex marriages almost twenty years ago. Don't say
gay bill, So imagine this so twenty years ago.
Speaker 2 (39:22):
So this means that some young teacher in.
Speaker 4 (39:26):
Florida is afraid to put up a photograph of themselves
and their partner for fear they may be fired for
doing what?
Speaker 2 (39:36):
For doing the God's gift?
Speaker 4 (39:40):
All of us to avow themselves to teach other people's children.
Speaker 2 (39:46):
As it is, they don't get paid enough.
Speaker 3 (39:50):
In twenty twenty four, we're looking at a tax on
the LGBTQ community.
Speaker 2 (39:57):
In twenty twenty four.
Speaker 3 (39:58):
We're looking at a tax so on the freedom to
vote in access to the ballot. I was just in Georgia.
Speaker 4 (40:03):
You know, they passed along in Georgia to make it
illegal to give people food and water while they stand
in line to vote. What happened to love thy neighbor?
I mean, the hypocrisy abounds, the kinds of freedoms that
are under attack in America right now, and I would
(40:26):
offer you know, I asked my team to create a
ven diagram for me.
Speaker 3 (40:30):
I love ven diagrams.
Speaker 4 (40:32):
And you know, whenever you're kind of looking at something
complex of VENN diagram can.
Speaker 2 (40:35):
Usually help you out.
Speaker 4 (40:37):
And the overlap then right, between where we're seeing the
attacks against voting rights, where we're seeing the attacks against LGBTQ,
where they're seeing the attack against reproductive freedom, and you
would not be shocked to see the profound intersection between them.
So this also, then, I say, as we organize and
think about these next many months, is an opportunity to
(40:59):
read we dedicate ourselves not only to community building, but
as an extension of that coalition building, let's bring together
all the folks who've been fighting for voting rights, all
the folks who've been fighting for LGBTQ rights, all the
folks who have been fighting for reproductive health rights, including
(41:20):
maternal health rights and maternal mortality, fighting against that right.
Speaker 2 (41:29):
By the way, on that issue, sofia.
Speaker 4 (41:31):
So I've also been doing a lot of work over
many years on the issue of combating maternal mortality. We
have a so called developed nation on the highest rates
of maternal mortality of any nation in the world.
Speaker 3 (41:44):
It's a crime, shame.
Speaker 4 (41:46):
And so again the hypocrisy abounds in the States with
the top ten worst numbers on maternal mortality, all have fans.
Speaker 3 (41:58):
I say to these so called extreamist leaders.
Speaker 4 (42:01):
Okay, so you'd say that your work to ban abortion,
ban access to reproductive healthcare is because you are so
concerned about mothers and children.
Speaker 3 (42:12):
Well, why you've been silent on maternal mortality?
Speaker 2 (42:16):
Where you been?
Speaker 4 (42:21):
When I became vice president, I issued a challenge to
states extend Medicaid coverage for postpartum care from.
Speaker 3 (42:29):
What is the standard two months to twelve months.
Speaker 4 (42:36):
When I started, three states, we're doing it now forty
three have done it right. All these issues are connected.
All these issues are connected. It is the nature of
our fight for freedoms that whatever gains we make, the
(42:57):
nature is, they will not be permanent. It's just the
nature of it.
Speaker 3 (43:03):
Therefore, understanding that we must always be vigilant, We must
understand how precarious and precious this all is, and commit
ourselves every day to stand for and fight for these
rights and these freedoms.
Speaker 4 (43:20):
Look, as I like to say, and we all say,
many times, when we fight, we win. In this moment,
when there are people trying to divide our country and
distract us from what's important, let's just hold on to
each other. Look at the person next to you if
you don't know them, and just let them know we're
all in this together.
Speaker 3 (43:38):
Okay, We're all in this together.
Speaker 2 (43:41):
Thank you, Ron, thank you, Thank.
Speaker 3 (43:44):
You so much.
Speaker 1 (43:48):
Friends of this podcast. You all are the person sitting
next to me right now. We're listening side by side,
so I'm looking at you, see you, I'm voting for you,
I root for you. We really are all in this together.
And I think that's one of the most important takeaways
(44:10):
from these conversations that I am so lucky to have
been able to have with the Vice President and from
the years I've spent working on access to reproductive health care,
what I've learned, and she talks about this. You know,
when those in power want to abuse power for control,
one of their greatest mechanisms to do that is, as
(44:34):
the Vice President and I were talking about earlier, to
make you look at people as other. Because if they
can make you attack the people you view as other,
if we are fighting with each other, we won't see
that they're actually attacking all of us. These attacks, these
(44:54):
bands on care and attacks on reproductive healthcare continue to
dispropar unfortunately affect women, black, Latino and Indigenous communities, young people,
people with low incomes, people living in rural communities, and more.
Folks who already have the most difficulty accessing healthcare, including
the LGBTQ plus community, and really including trans folks and guys.
(45:19):
I would be remiss if I didn't make it incredibly
clear here racism and sexism fuel each other, and as
more women who look like me, more white women who
have typically been Republican voters, are voting to protect abortion
access because their friends are dying. They see these hideous
things happening to women and families around the country. The
(45:40):
Republicans are scared. So who are they attacking now to
continue to popularize attacks on bodily autonomy. They're attacking transfolks
because while women are fifty one percent of the population
in this country, transfolks are our smallest and most vulnerable population.
We're talking a couple hundred thousand people in a country
(46:01):
of three hundred and thirty two million. And the Republicans
have put a target on their back because they want
you to think restricting someone's bodily autonomy and choices about
their life is okay. They're losing ground on the abortion fight,
so they are coming for us in hideous ways. They
are trying to subvert the votes. They are trying to
take these laws that we have put on ballots state
(46:24):
to state by signing up, by exercising our due process
under the law. They are trying to stop those votes
from even being taken this year, so we have to
fight again. They are coming at us with Project twenty
twenty five. They are coming at us with everything they
can muster for what to cause harm, To see non
(46:47):
viable pregnancies carried to terms so those babies die in
their parents' arms. To kill women by putting them into
septic shock before they'll give them much needed post abortion
or post miscarriage. This is barbaric. And I'm hoping that
these conversations in which I got to sit down with
(47:08):
one of the most powerful people in our country who
fights for us, can remind you that she's an incredible
woman and just a person who's been out here doing
this work for decades for us, to protect us, to
hold the line of progress and democracy. I hope this
has encouraged you to get involved. I hope this has
(47:29):
encouraged you to vote. Please vote like your lives depend
on it, because they probably do. Mine does, and so
I'm guessing yours does too. I want better for all
of us, and we're in this together. And because I
do believe that frank and inclusive conversations about this subject
(47:51):
matter are some of the most important conversations we can
be having. Right now, we have a part two to
this conversation coming for you. I am so incredly honored
that Amanda Zowski has taken the time to join us
for our next episode of work in Progress. You likely
know Amanda as one of the women who stood up
(48:11):
on stage at the DNC and talked about her miscarriage story.
Amanda is one of the women who bravely shared her story.
Her and her lovely husband, josh had been trying to
have a baby for quite some time. They were finally
pregnant for the first time, and they tragically suffered a miscarriage.
Amanda was denied care at the hospital. She went into
(48:34):
septic shock NOTT once but twice, had to fight for
her life. Has experienced permanent damage to her fertility because
of the traumatic life saving measures that doctors had to
take when they finally deemed her sick enough for those
doctors to not go to jail for enacting the care
that she needed. Amanda stood on stage at the DNC
(48:55):
with Caitlyn, Joshua, and Hadley Duval to talk about their
experiences with these laws, and I am incredibly honored that
she's going to join us for a conversation
Hey everyone, it's Sophia. Welcome to Work in Progress. Welcome
back to Work in Progress, Whips, smarties and friends. I
(00:21):
am really excited to bring you a special episode today.
It's no secret to any of you who lives in
this country or is engaging in what is happening in
this country that our rights are under attack. These conversations
we're having about our autonomy, about science, medicine, and health
care certainly, and they're also incredibly personal because they're about pregnancy,
(00:45):
pregnancy loss, miscarriage and abortion. And so I just want
to offer a trigger warning to anyone if these are
sensitive subjects for you, I hope you can stay to
hear from the VP, but if it feels hard or overwhelming,
I just wanted to give you a warning, and of
course say take care of yourself first and foremost. And
(01:06):
in the wake of recent tragedies, namely the death of
Amber Nicole Thurman and Georgia, a young mother with a
six year old son who went into the hospital needing
a DNC and was not treated. She was held in
the hospital for twenty hours until she went into septic shock,
and by the time doctors operated on her it was
(01:26):
too late. The sepsis had gone too far and she
passed away. And she's not the only one. Women in
this country are dying because of the abortion bands that
have been instituted across the country by Donald Trump and
his Supreme Court judges and seeing medical boards say with
absolute conviction these deaths were preventable. But these women were
(01:50):
killed because doctors are absolutely terrified to do their duties,
to follow their hippocratic oaths and to save lives because
the Republican Party in America is threatening to jail them
for providing health care. I am apoplectic and heartbroken, and
I've decided to dig into the archives today for you
(02:12):
because a lot of people have said, how could this
have happened? They said this wouldn't happen, They said it
would never get this bad. And I say this with
no pride. I say this with extreme sadness. Those of
us who have been fighting these issues have been screaming
from the rooftops that this would happen. We were called hysterical.
(02:34):
We were told we were overreacting, and we weren't. We're
killing people in our country because of politics, and it's devastating.
And when I'm devastated, I look to the ones who
give me hope. And one of the people who's given
me hope as a Californian for many years in many
(02:57):
elected offices is Kamala Harris. Our Vice President has been
incredible as my state's attorney general, as a United States Senator,
and as the Vice President. She has centered women and
families in her policy. She has chosen to advocate on
behalf of our rights, understanding that our liberty is bound
(03:19):
together for women, for black women, for pregnant women, for
the LGBTQ community, for trans folks. Our autonomy is being attacked,
and over the last couple of years, I've had the
incredible privilege of traveling the country with the Vice President
on her Reproductive Freedom's Tour. She has taken time out
of her schedule regularly to meet with people in every
(03:42):
state to talk about what's at stake here. And in
twenty twenty two I was lucky enough to travel with
her to bring mar College, and in twenty twenty four
I was able to visit San Jose with her and
her team has graciously sent us the audio from those interviews,
and we have decided to cut it into an election
(04:02):
special for all of you today. Because in my mind,
there is just no greater fight. We can't fight about
the economy if we're not alive. We can't better our
schools if our children are parentless. We can't change America
for the better and continue to create more access to
(04:24):
freedom and empowerment and opportunity for people if we're not alive.
So let's take a little journey through the last two
years with Vice President Kamala Harris and understand why this
fight is so personal to her. For this first section
of audio, you will be coming into the auditorium at
(04:46):
Brinmar College with myself and Vice President Harris on October
twenty eighth, twenty twenty two. At this event, we were
joined by Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon, by Admiral Rachel Levine,
and a number of other exceptionally all standing up for
our rights. This is a razor's edge moment in our country.
(05:08):
It is such an incredible, tenuous moment in this fight
for our rights, rights that we have long considered to
be settled law. And I'm very curious, how, with the
plethora of issues, Madam Vice President, that you face in
the administration every day, how have you dedicated so much
time to championing this issue, and why does it matter
(05:31):
to you so much?
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Let's start with.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
From childhood.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
So you see, I was raised, my sister and I
were raised by a mother who had two goals in
her life to raise her two daughters and.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
To end breast cancer.
Speaker 4 (05:49):
My mother was a breast cancer researcher, and she was
one of the very few women as a scientist, and
certainly one of the fewest women of color. And she
would come home at night, you know, I remember vividly,
very upset sometimes about how women were being treated in
(06:11):
the healthcare system. She was always speaking up and fighting
for the dignity of women in the healthcare system, and
in particular as it relates to reproductive health I mean
a word, a phrase that was often spoken at the
dinner table from my childhood on was memory gland. My
(06:32):
mother would talk about memory glands, she would talk about hormones,
she would talk about reproductive health care, about how women
should be treated in a way that gives them not
only a dignity that they rightly are due, but also
information so that they can exercise self determination in the system.
(06:56):
And so that's you know, so from the earliest stage,
and then the majority of my career before joining the
Senate was as a prosecutor, and when I was a
courtroom prosecutor, my specialty throughout those years was on crimes
affecting women and children in crimes of violence. In fact,
I specialized in some of the most horrible cases that
(07:18):
you can imagine. And again it was always about fighting
for the dignity, the safety, and the well being of
women in so many of those circumstances. But to your point,
I mean, look where we are. The highest court in
our land, the United States Supreme Court, just took a
(07:43):
constitutional right that had been recognized from the people of America,
from the women of America. And you know, on this subject,
I think it's important to note that one does not
have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to
(08:03):
agree the government should not be making this decision for her.
But what we are now saying as a result of
the Dobbs decision are laws that are being proposed and
passed around our country that would criminalize health care providers
(08:25):
literally doctors, nurses, other health care providers, send them to jail.
You know, as a practicing attorney, what the consequence of
that is, both in terms of I think the intent
to intimidate and instill fear in these healthcare professionals much
less the intent to punish them. What is happening with
(08:47):
no exception for rape or incest. And again I go
back to my professional career. You're talking about individuals who,
in those cases have experienced the worst kind of act
of violence and violation to their body. And then these
(09:08):
extremist so called leaders would dare to say and suggest
that that individual furthermore, will not have the right to
make decisions about what comes next.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
As it relates to their body.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
This is immoral, it's unconscionable, and they walk around and
want to be hailed as leaders of their whatever.
Speaker 4 (09:43):
That's not what a leader does. That's not what a
leader does, not what a true leader does. So this issue,
it really does relate to a lot of work that
I've done in the past, feel a great sense of
commitment as do we all to stand up and speak
(10:04):
out about it.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
And not only does row falling threaten our bodily autonomy,
but it threatens every other right that has been considered
settled law under our fourteen Amendment, right to liberty. We
are now seeing attacks on access to contraception, ninety six
percent of Republicans just voted against it. So they don't
want us to be able to not get pregnant, and
they also want us to stay pregnant. Interesting, we see
(10:29):
attacks on marriage, we see attacks on our right to privacy.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
There was a movement that was started by people generations
ago that culminated in Roe v.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Wait.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
It is now.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
Incumbent on us who are under this roof together right
now to pick that movement up and to carry it forward.
Speaker 4 (10:56):
And when we think about the history of the greatest
movements in our country that were about progress, progress being
defined as an expansion of rights, not a restriction of rights.
The greatest movements that have been about that kind of progress,
the key ingredient has been the coalition that was built
(11:20):
around those movements. So when I think about it, and
this is what we talked about with the legislators in Pennsylvania,
is because at that table and there were so many
leaders there who represent in their history of work and
in their constituencies, all these groups or a collection of them.
And let's see the power that we have right now
(11:41):
to empower folks who right now are being made to
lose their rights or to have to fight for their rights. Well,
then let's fight together. I strongly believe nobody should be
made to fight alone.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
And it isn't lost on any of us that this
rhetoric that you speak about, this division, we're witnessing half
of our political system, if not more, create chaos by othering.
We're seeing rhetoric across the country that reminds us of
what led to World War Two. We're seeing the demonization
(12:32):
of women and doctors and people who need care. We're
seeing attacks on the LGBTQ community and our trans communities.
And what I think when you speak about coalition building,
the thing I try to remember is that if they're
pushing us into the space where they want us to
look at each other as other, where they want us
(12:53):
to be triggered by the fear of scarcity, the fear
of not enoughness, all we have to remember, for the
those of us who love math and ven diagrams, that
love that about you, is that we have data on
our side now that we didn't have one hundred years ago.
We know if we just pick one of these issues,
if we could create pay parody simply on the gender line,
(13:15):
if we snapped our fingers and women were paid what
men are paid in this country. And this is data
from twenty eighteen, so it might be better now our
GDP would increase by twelve points. So we're not fighting
over the pieces of the pie. If we create equity,
the pie gets bigger. We all do better. Our liberty
is bound together. If we protect the rights of vulnerable groups,
(13:40):
each of us in our own vulnerabilities is better protected.
And that is something I think the administration has been
doing a very incredible job at continuing to highlight and
repeat across all of these issues. And I'm curious how
as you traveled to stay and take part in meetings
(14:02):
like this and see what people are doing to fight back,
how do you look at within the Biden Harris administration
this sort of umbrella of the whole nation and figure
out how to fight back. How does the administration really
figure out both the specific state by state action and
(14:23):
the kind of national policy.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
Well, so we can talk about in the broader issue,
how do we address some of the inequities that you
have rightly pointed out pointed out and equity is one
of the principles by which we have approached.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
All of our work.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
And you know, And let's be clear, what does equity mean, right,
It's different from equality.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
Right.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
Equity is about understanding not everybody starts out on the
same base.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Right.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
Equal would mean everyone gets the same amount. Well, but
if everyone doesn't start out in the same base, the
inequities are still going to exist, right. And so you know,
if you just give equal, you have to recognize the
inequities and then and then give people an equal opportunity
to compete.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
I imagine that that since Dobbs, you must be hearing
from women and families who are going through things that
are unspeakable, and and I I wonder how you carry
their stories, you know, into your office. I wonder how
(15:28):
you carry those stories into the White House.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
That these are the.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
People who we are trying to advocate for. Right, So
how does that affect you personally as you go out
to lead.
Speaker 4 (15:40):
I will tell you there's a lot of fear in
our country right now. And in fact Prop number two
I only have two, but it actually is quite serious
as an issue. So here's a map of the United States,
and the colors here represent the different laws or the
(16:01):
state of affairs in each of the states. So one
of these colors is abortion, banned from conception with no exceptions.
One is banned from conception with an exception for rape
or incest. There's another that is, let's see a six
week band, there's a fifteen week band, there's an eighteen
week ban, there's a You see what I'm saying. This
(16:22):
is the map of the United States in terms of
the state of affairs right now, which tells us a
lot of people are really confused. And what I know
happens when folks are confused is it is then an
environment that is ripe for misinformation, disinformation, and predatory behaviors.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
So one of the reasons that what we are.
Speaker 4 (16:50):
Doing this afternoon is important is to uplift and then
send out accurate information about about the rights that people
have and where they can go for help. Because there's
another issue that is very much at play here that
I think has to also be spoken, which is the
(17:15):
long standing judgment associated with women's sexuality.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
So understand that.
Speaker 4 (17:25):
Understand that, right, So what is happening is that in
this environment it's also thick with judgment, which has the
effect of making the individual feel embarrassed or is meant
to shame her, but certainly will make her feel alone,
(17:51):
which is one of the greatest tools that anyone has
when they want to take someone's power. So we're looking
at a situation where there are people all over our
country who right now are feeling very alone, very confused,
(18:12):
and in that way, feeling helpless. And that is another
piece of this that is so insidious about what is
happening right now in our country. And it is why,
especially to the students who are here, I ask you
to please use all of the creative ways that you
(18:33):
have to communicate with large numbers of people to remind
people they are not alone, To remind people they are
not being judged, to remind them that we stand with
them and that there is so much support for them.
We have to recognize all of the layers of what
(18:56):
is happening right now, because they're are very powerful forces
in our country who are using the bully pulp that
they have to make people afraid, to make people feel small,
and literally to criminalize and punish people for exercising self determination.
(19:21):
And so this is a moment for all good people
to stand and speak.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Hi, friends, I hope you're enjoying this conversation with Vice
President Harris. We are going to step back in in
twenty twenty four in San Jose, California, where I got
to sit at a large event with the VP and
talk about how the landscape changed over the last two years.
Some facts that I think you all should have hand
(20:00):
are that the Trump abortion bands have eliminated some or
all abortion care in twenty two states in this country.
Total bands are in effect in fourteen states. Four states
have six week bands in place Florida, Georgia, Iowa, South Carolina.
Two states have twelve week bands in place North Carolina
and Nebraska, and two states have fifteen to eighteen week
(20:22):
bands in place, Arizona and Utah. We did, I will say, recently,
have some success a hard fought legal battle in Arizona
that was combined with very heroic efforts from state legislatures,
repealed the state's pre row abortion ban. That was a law,
by the way, from eighteen sixty four, when we knew
nothing that we know today about medicine, and that's what
(20:44):
they thought should govern our bodily autonomy. Thankfully we've beat
it back, but the fights still continue state by state.
One thing that I do want to highlight for you
all is that at six weeks most women don't know
they're pregnant, and a lot of these have been passed
based on false information that is meant to emotionally manipulate us.
(21:05):
They call these six week bands heartbeat bands. There is
no such thing as a heart beat. At six weeks.
The gestational tissue of a fetus has not formed a
heart yet. You are actually hearing the electrical pulses from
a mother's body that move through her blood supply into
(21:26):
her uterus. It's not lost on me that they want
to sentence women to death if they have pregnancy complications
because of their own heart beats. This is what we're
up against. Additional states have gestational limits in place beyond
twenty weeks. Unfortunately, we all know that most abortions that
(21:48):
happen after twenty weeks happen due to fetal anomalies. They
happen due to catastrophic and sad loss that families are facing.
And since these bands have gone into place, we have
seen infant mortality increase in some states by horrific, horrific percentages.
And while the former president Donald Trump might be touring
(22:09):
the country stating that he is proud to have overturned
Roe V. Wade because quote everyone wanted this. I don't
think everyone in Texas wanted to see maternal mortality rise
to fifty six percent compared with an eleven percent rise
nationwide during the period that Roe v. Wade was overturned.
I don't think that infant mortality rising by over eight
(22:31):
percent across the country because mothers are being forced to
carry fetuses with fatal anomalies to term is what quote
everybody wanted. But here we are, and I want to
be very clear with our listeners that Donald Trump and
JD Vance, along with their draconian plans under Project twenty
twenty five, have a plan for him to radically alter
(22:54):
the American government and end abortion access nationwide on day one,
using every single lever that they can, even without Congress.
They have printed this plan. This is not hearsay, this
is not hysteria. They put it on the Internet, guys,
it's there. So no matter what he goes out there
and says about being pro fertilization that made me want
to vomit. His party has voted against IVF not once,
(23:17):
but twice. You need to watch what he does and
what the GOP do as a voting block, not what
he says and not what they say. You cannot trust
them on campaign statements, but you can trust their records
on abortion, no matter how you feel about it. We're
all allowed to have feelings and beliefs that we adhere
(23:37):
to in our own lives, but our feelings and beliefs
cannot govern policy. They cannot govern medical science. At no
point in any person's pregnancy is a politician more qualified
to make decisions about your health than you and your doctor.
We have to be really clear on our language here,
(24:00):
and we have to be really clear about the goals
of the right. They knew that abortion bands would kill women,
and they are. They knew that abortion bands would harm families,
and they are. And we have to be frank. As
Sarah Jones says, that when abortion bands kill, they reveal
their true purpose, which is to grant a handful of
extremists the power over the lives and deaths of American women.
(24:23):
When we take into account that nearly one in three
women will experience sexual violence or physical violence in their lifetime,
and that many of these states bands make no exceptions
for rape or incest, it gets worse. One thing I
want to alert you all to friends, is that these
anti abortion, these anti reproductive freedom groups are signaling their
(24:45):
intent to enforce a really terrifying law. It's radical. It's
called the Comstock Act, and they are specifically and on
purpose misinterpreting that act to further rest access to abortion
and contraception. Just so y'all know, you can do your
research here. The Comstock Act is an eighteen hundred's law
(25:09):
about controlling people's sex lives that was passed before women
could vote, and that's how they want us all to live.
If they win, these attacks are going to have consequences
with ripple effects in every single state across the country.
And they share the same goal banning abortion nationwide and
making sexual and reproductive health care inaccessible. They want to
(25:30):
deny you the right to be a parent should you
want to needing IVF. They want to deny you the
right to not be a parent yet, should you want
to using birth control. These are terrifying control mechanisms. And
while these extreme Supreme Court justices may have felt confident
to publish that they believe we need a quote domestic
supply of infants end quote in their reasoning for overturning DOBS,
(25:53):
I don't exactly think any of us signed up to
be breeders for a future America population against our will.
This is an attack on us, and this is an
attack that goes so far beyond just the question of abortion,
but to reproductive healthcare in general. They are coming for
birth control, they are coming for IVF. Republicans have voted
(26:14):
down a bill that would protect IVF twice this year.
They just voted down a bill that would protect our
access to contraception, and their presidential candidate is out campaigning
on taking contraception away from us. This election is about
two different visions for the future of America. One is
a vision where everyone gets more free and has more
rights and more access to all things, not just healthcare,
(26:37):
but economic opportunity, and the other is a draconian control
mechanism to create an oligarchy and the rest of us
just have to suffer in it. We are in a
crisis point, and I got to speak about that exact
crisis point with the Vice President in San Jose in
twenty twenty four. I mean, how cool is this? Before
(27:02):
we get into serious business, I just personally want to
extend to thank you. We did this for the first time,
having a conversation like this one two years ago on
a college campus across the country, and day in and
day out, while you are in the position to hold
the issues of the world, you keep our rights a
(27:23):
top issue in the administration and in the White House
and on behalf of all women and potentially pregnant people.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
Ever, I just thank you.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
Okay, So we are in a moment as a nation,
and I'm curious from your vantage point, how you see
it and why you have decided to lead this fight
for Reproductive Freedom's tour.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
Well, first of all, it's great to be with you, Sophia,
and thank you for sharing the stage and.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
For using your voice.
Speaker 4 (27:58):
The topic for today here is the topic of what
has happened in our country after the Dobbs decision, which
took away the right of people to make decisions about
their own body and has resulted in extreme harm. And
so I'm going to get back to the issue because
it's an important one and we should not be distracted
(28:19):
from any important issue. So what we're talking about, what
we're looking at in these states, for example, that have
made no exception even for raper incest. Now many of you,
this is my I grew up in California, in the
Bay Area. Many of you know my career, so you
(28:41):
know that I started my career as a prosecutor. What
you may not know is one of the biggest reasons why.
When I was in high school, one of my closest friends,
one of my best friends, I learned was being molested
by her stepfather. And when I learned, I said to her,
you have to come and stay with us. I called
(29:02):
my mother and my mother said, of course she does,
and she came to stay with us. And I decided
at a very early age I wanted to do everything
I could to protect women and children from harm, and
I specialized for a long time in my career as
a prosecutor, including when I was working as ag on
(29:23):
crimes affecting women and children, no exception even for rape
or incests. Let's understand what that means. It means that
these so called leaders are saying to a survivor of
a crime of violence to their body, a violation to
their body.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
That they don't have the right to make a decision
about what happens to their body next. That's immoral. This
is what's happening around our country. So when we talk
about the layers of harm, be it harm to our democracy,
harm to our constitution, harm to our freedoms in our rights,
(30:05):
and we then understand the real harm that also exists
every day for individuals who are being denied the health
care they need. It's extraordinary and for that reason, I
know we all are approaching this with a sense, yes,
of empathy and understanding, but also profound commitment, with a
(30:30):
sense of urgency to do something about it, to end
the pain and the suffering that is happening right now
in real time in our country.
Speaker 4 (30:39):
And so that's the issue as much as anything, and
the way that we are going to ultimately deal with
this is to one have some consensus which I do
believe exists, which is that one does not have to
abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the
(31:03):
government should not be telling her what to do with her.
Speaker 5 (31:06):
Body if she chooses.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
If she chooses, she will.
Speaker 4 (31:18):
Consult with her pastor her priests, to rabbi, her a mom,
but not the government telling her what to do. And
so we need this November to elect a majority of
people in the United States Congress who simply agree, is
not the government's right to tell a woman what's in
(31:38):
her own best interest when she knows what's in her
own best interest and doesn't need some person walking around
with a flag pin to tell her what to do.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
When extremism comes home to roost, whether it's here in
America or around the world, women and girls who suffer worst,
and it can feel overwhelming to try to hold all
of these issues. I know, for me as a citizen,
I look to you, and I can't imagine the pressure
you feel with all of us looking to you going
(32:15):
tell us what to do. But one of the things
that you often encourage us to do when we feel
helpless in the face of global suffering and of the
suffering of women and girls and at risk people, is
to get involved locally. Yes, that's why you're here on
a local tour with us talking about this issue while
(32:35):
you daily hold all the rest of them. And I'm
curious for those of us who you know, don't get
the binders and the briefings. What should we be doing
in our states and what can we encourage our states
to do, and what can states do across the nation
to fight back and protect our reproductive freedoms.
Speaker 3 (32:55):
That's great, So I'll start with this part of the
vironment in which this issue exists, is an environment that
is heavily laden with judgment, suggesting to these individuals, suggesting
to these women that they've done something wrong and something
(33:16):
they should be embarrassed about.
Speaker 4 (33:20):
And understand them the layers that come along with that
that include making her feel as though she's alone. And
as we know, one of the things that can be
most disempowering is when people feel their alone, when they
feel they don't have community, much less support, when they
(33:40):
feel they're being judged and outcast as opposed to embraced.
And so this is the power of each of us
as individuals in a community, in a society on every level,
including this one, which is to think about how you
use the way that you talk with people, be it
(34:01):
you know, mom, peg, I see you here, my mother
in law's here.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
That's going to be by the telephone.
Speaker 4 (34:08):
Or text or social media, but the ways that we
can talk with people, friends and strangers about the issue
to remind them about what's at stake and the harm
that is happening every day. I have seen as I
am traveling the country on this issue, I've seen the
(34:28):
power of that communication.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
I have met with people.
Speaker 4 (34:32):
Who started especially before the Dobs decision came down and
were vehement that they were opposed to abortion, and who
have not abandoned their faith and whatever reason it is
for why they feel that way and strongly about themselves
and their family, but also didn't know and weren't aware
of the suffering that would happen as a result, and
(34:56):
now knowing the suffering that is happening, are considering their
position in terms of the policy of it all, the
policy being to deny other people the decision to make
that very important decision for themselves and not the government
telling them.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
So.
Speaker 4 (35:13):
The power of communication on this is very important. I
think there's also another thing that is at play on
so many issues in our country, which is, if you will,
I think a certain thing that is quite perverse that
it is being pushed by some so called leaders, which is
to suggest that the measure of the strength of the
(35:33):
leader is based on who you beat down.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
And said who you lift up.
Speaker 4 (35:38):
Right, you know, there's a thing happening that suggests that
to care about people somehow is assign a weakness, when
we all know that one of the great characteristics and
character of real leadership is the character or that has
(36:00):
some level of concern, curiosity, and compassion about the suffering
of other people and then wants to do something about
alleviating that suffering. So the work that needs to be
done over these next ten months includes using our voices
to really help people understand how this is affecting people
(36:21):
in real time. Because there's nothing abstract about this issue.
There's nothing hypothetical about it is it does not require it,
and it absolutely deserves more than some kind of intellectual
political debate.
Speaker 3 (36:34):
It requires action.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
This is a crisis.
Speaker 3 (36:36):
You're absolutely right, and you're absolutely right.
Speaker 1 (36:38):
I'm just curious, can you walk us through who's responsible
for this? Because this was an intentional crisis indeed, and
you've mentioned that the Supreme Court overturned Row. But can
we can we just cover how we got to that point?
Speaker 2 (36:56):
I think we should. I think we should too.
Speaker 3 (36:58):
It feels appropriate to tell some truth.
Speaker 4 (37:02):
So the former president of the United States hand picked,
hand picked three members of the United States Supreme Court
with the intention that they would undo wrong. Let's be
very clear about it. And he has been very clear
that that is exactly what he intended. Just take him
(37:23):
at his word. Take him at his word when he
said recently he's proud of what he did, and I asked, proud,
Connect Christine Pelosi. I asked, proud, Proud that doctors might
go to jail for giving health care, Proud that women
(37:44):
are having miscarriages without any healthcare that they need.
Speaker 2 (37:51):
Proud that.
Speaker 4 (37:53):
Fundamental freedoms have been taken from the American people. To
understand the arrogance that is associated with the taking, and
then what we are up against. And so this is
why we know what is before us and the fight
(38:13):
that is before us.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
This is a fight that is.
Speaker 3 (38:17):
Fundamental, and it is fundamentally about freedom. Freedom, the freedom
to make decisions about your own body. And understand, as
we step back, there is and I travel our country,
there is a foot, a full on intent to attack hard,
(38:41):
hard won freedoms in our country.
Speaker 4 (38:44):
Just look at what is happening. Look at what is
happening with a don't say gay bill. Okay, So now
let me I will remind my fellow Californians in two
thousand and four, actually Valentine's weekend, two thousand and four,
so it'll be twenty years. I was proud to be
(39:06):
one of the first elected officials in the country to
perform same sex marriages almost twenty years ago. Don't say
gay bill, So imagine this so twenty years ago.
Speaker 2 (39:22):
So this means that some young teacher in.
Speaker 4 (39:26):
Florida is afraid to put up a photograph of themselves
and their partner for fear they may be fired for
doing what?
Speaker 2 (39:36):
For doing the God's gift?
Speaker 4 (39:40):
All of us to avow themselves to teach other people's children.
Speaker 2 (39:46):
As it is, they don't get paid enough.
Speaker 3 (39:50):
In twenty twenty four, we're looking at a tax on
the LGBTQ community.
Speaker 2 (39:57):
In twenty twenty four.
Speaker 3 (39:58):
We're looking at a tax so on the freedom to
vote in access to the ballot. I was just in Georgia.
Speaker 4 (40:03):
You know, they passed along in Georgia to make it
illegal to give people food and water while they stand
in line to vote. What happened to love thy neighbor?
I mean, the hypocrisy abounds, the kinds of freedoms that
are under attack in America right now, and I would
(40:26):
offer you know, I asked my team to create a
ven diagram for me.
Speaker 3 (40:30):
I love ven diagrams.
Speaker 4 (40:32):
And you know, whenever you're kind of looking at something
complex of VENN diagram can.
Speaker 2 (40:35):
Usually help you out.
Speaker 4 (40:37):
And the overlap then right, between where we're seeing the
attacks against voting rights, where we're seeing the attacks against LGBTQ,
where they're seeing the attack against reproductive freedom, and you
would not be shocked to see the profound intersection between them.
So this also, then, I say, as we organize and
think about these next many months, is an opportunity to
(40:59):
read we dedicate ourselves not only to community building, but
as an extension of that coalition building, let's bring together
all the folks who've been fighting for voting rights, all
the folks who've been fighting for LGBTQ rights, all the
folks who have been fighting for reproductive health rights, including
(41:20):
maternal health rights and maternal mortality, fighting against that right.
Speaker 2 (41:29):
By the way, on that issue, sofia.
Speaker 4 (41:31):
So I've also been doing a lot of work over
many years on the issue of combating maternal mortality. We
have a so called developed nation on the highest rates
of maternal mortality of any nation in the world.
Speaker 3 (41:44):
It's a crime, shame.
Speaker 4 (41:46):
And so again the hypocrisy abounds in the States with
the top ten worst numbers on maternal mortality, all have fans.
Speaker 3 (41:58):
I say to these so called extreamist leaders.
Speaker 4 (42:01):
Okay, so you'd say that your work to ban abortion,
ban access to reproductive healthcare is because you are so
concerned about mothers and children.
Speaker 3 (42:12):
Well, why you've been silent on maternal mortality?
Speaker 2 (42:16):
Where you been?
Speaker 4 (42:21):
When I became vice president, I issued a challenge to
states extend Medicaid coverage for postpartum care from.
Speaker 3 (42:29):
What is the standard two months to twelve months.
Speaker 4 (42:36):
When I started, three states, we're doing it now forty
three have done it right. All these issues are connected.
All these issues are connected. It is the nature of
our fight for freedoms that whatever gains we make, the
(42:57):
nature is, they will not be permanent. It's just the
nature of it.
Speaker 3 (43:03):
Therefore, understanding that we must always be vigilant, We must
understand how precarious and precious this all is, and commit
ourselves every day to stand for and fight for these
rights and these freedoms.
Speaker 4 (43:20):
Look, as I like to say, and we all say,
many times, when we fight, we win. In this moment,
when there are people trying to divide our country and
distract us from what's important, let's just hold on to
each other. Look at the person next to you if
you don't know them, and just let them know we're
all in this together.
Speaker 3 (43:38):
Okay, We're all in this together.
Speaker 2 (43:41):
Thank you, Ron, thank you, Thank.
Speaker 3 (43:44):
You so much.
Speaker 1 (43:48):
Friends of this podcast. You all are the person sitting
next to me right now. We're listening side by side,
so I'm looking at you, see you, I'm voting for you,
I root for you. We really are all in this together.
And I think that's one of the most important takeaways
(44:10):
from these conversations that I am so lucky to have
been able to have with the Vice President and from
the years I've spent working on access to reproductive health care,
what I've learned, and she talks about this. You know,
when those in power want to abuse power for control,
one of their greatest mechanisms to do that is, as
(44:34):
the Vice President and I were talking about earlier, to
make you look at people as other. Because if they
can make you attack the people you view as other,
if we are fighting with each other, we won't see
that they're actually attacking all of us. These attacks, these
(44:54):
bands on care and attacks on reproductive healthcare continue to
dispropar unfortunately affect women, black, Latino and Indigenous communities, young people,
people with low incomes, people living in rural communities, and more.
Folks who already have the most difficulty accessing healthcare, including
the LGBTQ plus community, and really including trans folks and guys.
(45:19):
I would be remiss if I didn't make it incredibly
clear here racism and sexism fuel each other, and as
more women who look like me, more white women who
have typically been Republican voters, are voting to protect abortion
access because their friends are dying. They see these hideous
things happening to women and families around the country. The
(45:40):
Republicans are scared. So who are they attacking now to
continue to popularize attacks on bodily autonomy. They're attacking transfolks
because while women are fifty one percent of the population
in this country, transfolks are our smallest and most vulnerable population.
We're talking a couple hundred thousand people in a country
(46:01):
of three hundred and thirty two million. And the Republicans
have put a target on their back because they want
you to think restricting someone's bodily autonomy and choices about
their life is okay. They're losing ground on the abortion fight,
so they are coming for us in hideous ways. They
are trying to subvert the votes. They are trying to
take these laws that we have put on ballots state
(46:24):
to state by signing up, by exercising our due process
under the law. They are trying to stop those votes
from even being taken this year, so we have to
fight again. They are coming at us with Project twenty
twenty five. They are coming at us with everything they
can muster for what to cause harm, To see non
(46:47):
viable pregnancies carried to terms so those babies die in
their parents' arms. To kill women by putting them into
septic shock before they'll give them much needed post abortion
or post miscarriage. This is barbaric. And I'm hoping that
these conversations in which I got to sit down with
(47:08):
one of the most powerful people in our country who
fights for us, can remind you that she's an incredible
woman and just a person who's been out here doing
this work for decades for us, to protect us, to
hold the line of progress and democracy. I hope this
has encouraged you to get involved. I hope this has
(47:29):
encouraged you to vote. Please vote like your lives depend
on it, because they probably do. Mine does, and so
I'm guessing yours does too. I want better for all
of us, and we're in this together. And because I
do believe that frank and inclusive conversations about this subject
(47:51):
matter are some of the most important conversations we can
be having. Right now, we have a part two to
this conversation coming for you. I am so incredly honored
that Amanda Zowski has taken the time to join us
for our next episode of work in Progress. You likely
know Amanda as one of the women who stood up
(48:11):
on stage at the DNC and talked about her miscarriage story.
Amanda is one of the women who bravely shared her story.
Her and her lovely husband, josh had been trying to
have a baby for quite some time. They were finally
pregnant for the first time, and they tragically suffered a miscarriage.
Amanda was denied care at the hospital. She went into
(48:34):
septic shock NOTT once but twice, had to fight for
her life. Has experienced permanent damage to her fertility because
of the traumatic life saving measures that doctors had to
take when they finally deemed her sick enough for those
doctors to not go to jail for enacting the care
that she needed. Amanda stood on stage at the DNC
(48:55):
with Caitlyn, Joshua, and Hadley Duval to talk about their
experiences with these laws, and I am incredibly honored that
she's going to join us for a conversation
Host
Sophia Bush
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