Ep. 238 Shannon Olivieri Hovis-NARAL Pro-Choice America

Director of NARAL Pro-Choice California, Shannon Olivieri Hovis returns to the show to talk about the choice-focused political fights across the country.

(Originally aired 27Sept22)

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Episode Transcript

S1 (00:00):
The views and opinions expressed in this program are those
of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views
or positions of any entities they represent, including OLAS Media.

S2 (00:11):
OLAS Media. OLAS Media Presents Nation State of Play. Welcome

(00:37):
to the Nation State of Play podcast. I'm your host,
Brian Miller. And each episode we explore the political stories
that are driving public policy in California. We explore these
stories with political insiders, business leaders, journalists and policymakers themselves
to get below the surface of the headlines and show
you the true forces shaping our nation state. All right. Well,
thanks for listening today. Our guests for the second time

(00:59):
in a few weeks is Shannon Olivia Harris from Princeton,
Ralph here in California. Really excited to have Shannon back
because there is no hotter topic in the country right
now than what is going on with abortion and the
pro-choice fights across the country. And we had Shannon a
few weeks ago talk about their legislative priorities in the
session and really kept the episode focused on that. But

(01:20):
this is a very different episode when you're talking about
politics or timing of the campaigns and how the Dobbs
decision overruling Roe v Wade is really impacting elections across
California and across the country. So I was grateful that
she was willing to come back to deep dive on
what she's seeing on the front lines of the politics
of these issues. And we have a discussion really starting

(01:42):
with the national environment and but then zeroing in on
some key California races. So really important episode. I hope
you will stay with us, Shannon, over the air Harris
right after this.

S3 (01:56):
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The National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers includes organizations across the
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S2 (02:27):
Welcome back to the Nation State of Play podcast. Shannon,
thanks so much for coming back on the show. It's
a pleasure to have you.

S4 (02:34):
Thanks, Brian. Good to be back.

S2 (02:36):
Okay. So since we talked, you guys have come out
with a series of really important endorsements. And that's why
we wanted to have you back on the show, primarily
to talk about what's going on at the national level
in how these California races in particular impact the odds
of the Democrats holding the House. So could you kind

(02:56):
of set the stage for us and where you see
the house fights at a national level and how the
choice issues are impacting this?

S4 (03:06):
Sure. I mean, I think the first thing is just
to recognize that, like in many years, the path to
holding the house runs through California. And that's true this year, too.
So we have some critical protect seats in Katie Porter
and Mike Levin and Josh Harder. And then we have
some really important flip seats. We need to unseat Mike

(03:28):
Garcia and replace him with Christy Smith. We need to
unseat young Kim, replace her. We need to unseat Michele Steele.
And so we've endorsed Jay Chen and Dr. Joseph Mahmood
in those races. These folks are really horrible on reproductive freedom.
I mean, their records are atrocious from voting against the

(03:49):
Women's Health Protection Act twice. All of all. All of them.
Michelle Steele, Young Kim and Mike Garcia. The Women's Health
Protection Act, of course, being the federal legislation that would
specifically really enshrine and codify the protections of ROE within
our federal laws. They even all voted against the right

(04:10):
to contraception bill in this in in the House. So,
you know, they're not really hiding their cards as far
as their positions when it comes to reproductive freedom. But
one of the things that I think is really interesting is,
of course, they're trying to if you look at their websites,

(04:30):
none of these folks actually indicate that they their position
on reproductive freedom. They are trying to hide trying to
hide just how extreme they are. And that's because they
know that voters are wildly opposed to their positions as
it relates to reproductive freedom.

S2 (04:50):
So, yeah, that's such a good point. There's this weird
cognitive dissonance between what they know is actually politics in
their district that can help them manage through the cycle
and then how they continue to vote. How do you
explain that? I mean, the right to contraception seems just
like such a extreme vote to take. And these are

(05:11):
all people in tough races. What what do you like?
How do you see that political calculus in their heads?

S4 (05:20):
You know, it's interesting, right? Because what we've known is
that they never the anti-choice machine. They. Right. They're this
very small minority of folks in the country. But there
are you know, they they are well powered. They have
good money and they have really been driven, been driving
this very extreme agenda. And they never intended to stop

(05:40):
at Roe. That's what we've known for a very long time,
is that Roe was really just the beginning for them.
And what they are trying to do is actually a
nationwide abortion ban. So it's interesting, right. Steele Michael Steele
and Mike Garcia, they are also co-sponsors of the Life
at Conception Act. And this is this would be a

(06:00):
nationwide abortion ban where we are actually talking about essentially
outlawing abortion at zero weeks. Nothing. Nothing. Right. Which would
have implications for birth control, which would have implications for IVF,
you know, would be very, very problematic for a lot
of issues as it relates to reproductive freedom. And so

(06:23):
these folks are just as extreme as it comes. And
it is because, you know, the the anti-choice movement is
really driving them in that direction, even as the Republican Party,
as an institution is trying to kind of pull that back,
especially especially now that Roe has fallen, because they have

(06:43):
seen what we have been saying all along, which is
reproductive freedom is wildly popular. Eight in ten Americans support
the legal right to abortion regardless of whether they would
choose abortion for themselves. That is wildly, wildly popular. And
so they are trying to back off of this position
as a party, even as legislatively, they are still driving

(07:05):
that extreme agenda. So it really is this extraordinary contradiction
that we are seeing, and we just we can't be fooled.
You know, we're seeing it in some of our state
legislative races, too, Suzette, that fedoras is basically trying to
act like she said that the assemblywoman. She's trying to

(07:25):
act like she's basically a moderate Democrat in that district
where she's running against La Schiavo, who we've endorsed. I mean,
it's is insane. Suzette is has a horrible record. Our
scorecard is going to come out in the next couple
of weeks and she will be earning a beautiful F
with us, a big, big ass. But she's trying to

(07:46):
back off the issue. So we just saw this last week,
Senator Lindsey Graham introduces a nationwide abortion ban. And, you know,
the party, Mitch McConnell, even they immediately back off of
it because they know that this is political suicide for them.
Even as they are that extreme on the issue. What

(08:10):
we need to understand is that in what Kansas showed
us with that ballot initiative, this has never been for
the people. This is not a partisan issue. You know, obviously,
for Democrats, overwhelming majorities of Democrats support reproductive freedom. That's
true as well for independents and then even for Republicans,

(08:31):
significant numbers of Republicans support reproductive freedom. And so the
Republican Party is really out of step with where the
where public opinion is. And Republican people who identify as
Republican are supporting these candidates and elected officials in many instances,
in spite of their records on reproductive freedom, not because

(08:53):
of them.

S2 (08:54):
I'm glad you brought up the Lindsey Graham thing, because
I think this is a really hard thing to understand politically,
because like you said to you, Mike McConnell and him
were at the same meeting and whatever strategy that they
were pursuing on this. McConnell seems like he wants to
kind of, you know, avoid this issue. And then Graham
comes out and does this. I heard various different explanations

(09:17):
for this, the only one, and that it made any
sense to me and I definitely am curious as to
your take is that this was Graham basically saying we've
lost the middle which he had seen the results from
the special elections in Kansas. And all we can do
at this point is play to the base. He's essentially
it's essentially in play to just cede the middle. And

(09:40):
there's a ton of energy on the progressive side because
of this. And we've got to get our energy up
on the right. That's at least rational to me. I
don't really need a rational reason to ascribe to Lindsey
Graham these days. But but what's your what's your take
on this?

S4 (09:57):
Sure. I mean, historically, the Republican Party has really used
this issue and being so extreme as it relates to
reproductive freedom, you know, to where they do oppose birth control.
So where they do oppose abortion at any stage, where
they support these abortion bans without any exceptions, they have

(10:17):
used that to rally their base. And so, sure, I
think that he is trying to do the same thing here.
In all likelihood, though, I would never try to say
that I understand what's going on in the head of
Lindsey Graham. But with that said, it is so, again,
out of touch with the overall political winds and shifts here,

(10:41):
right where the Republican institution and Mitch McConnell being at
the helm of that, he knows this is not a
winning issue for us. We are in trouble after the
Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade. The people in this
country are livid about that. They do not want their
fundamental freedoms taken away. We need to not talk about

(11:03):
this issue at all. So that's where he seems to
be coming from. And clearly, that's the direction that all
of these congressional, you know, elected officials running for reelection,
they are getting that message to don't talk about it,
pretend like this issue does not exist. And fortunately, the
Democrats on the other side are seizing on that and

(11:25):
they are calling out these incumbents for their, you know,
just I mean, these track records that are so archaic. Right.
You're going to do away with birth control. You don't
believe in the right to birth control. I mean, that
is birth control is popular with 95% of the American people.
What are the you know, so really, it is so

(11:47):
inconsistent with with where the people are.

S2 (11:49):
I do think you saw the ultimate intention, as you're
saying here. But back to your to this discussion about
what like rallying the base if overturning Roe doesn't rally
your base. But what is I mean, you know, a
national it's is the analysis and they're saying something like, wow,
overturning Roe is not enough. We actually have to pass

(12:11):
a national ban and somehow that's going to increase the base.
You can't be particularly concerned that that's going to work. Right.

S4 (12:18):
I mean, they are always going, you know, there's going
to be 25%, 20, I should say, 20% of the
country who maybe will consistently be where Lindsey Graham is by.
That's it. You know, the vast majority. Eight in ten

(12:39):
Americans that support legal right to abortion, the vast, vast
majority that did not want to see Roe v Wade overturned.
You know, so it's a very small base that he
can talk about rallying. But sure, he's it seems like
he's trying to reclaim the issue. On on their end.
It just doesn't line up, though. What we've seen is
that the fact that Roe was overturned has been super

(13:00):
galvanizing for Democratic voters, for independent voters who are coming out,
women in particular, registering to vote in droves all across
this country. You know, the nonpartisan, the independent vote in
the Kansas ballot initiative, you know, to ensure that the
state legislature in Kansas cannot put into effect an abortion ban.

(13:23):
There was a significant reason for why that ballot initiative
was successful. You know, the no campaign was was successful
in in in defeating that. And then on the independent vote,
there's a closed primary in Kansas. The only reason that
they the only thing they could vote on on that

(13:45):
ballot was the issue of abortion. So they came out
just to vote on that. And that's the kind of
thing that we're seeing, is people ahead of what we
are calling November are really getting mobilized when they learn
that abortion is on the ballot in California with Proposition one.
We are seeing seeing enthusiasm to turn out and vote

(14:06):
this election out the roof. You know, it is going
up substantially. Exponentially.

S2 (14:13):
So yeah, that's exactly what I want to talk about.
The two point about these extreme votes that the competitive
House members are continuing to take even in this environment.
Why do you think McCarthy won't let them off the
hook on those votes? You know, they're in races he
really needs if he wants to be speaker, why why

(14:33):
can't why wouldn't you just give him a free pass?
I mean, Nancy Pelosi gets free passes all the time
to Democrats in conservative districts and tough votes, however many
votes she has to deal with. That's exactly how many
she gives out, of course. But why? Why do you.
That's what I can't quite figure out. It's like why
McCarthy wouldn't let a California Republican in his own backyard
in a competitive seat vote for the right to birth control?

(14:57):
What's going on there?

S4 (15:00):
What I think it actually shows us is the true
colors of these congressmembers, that it is actually their position.
They have adopted the position of the very extreme anti-choice
mechanism in this country. And like I said, they never
intended to stop at Roe. They want to see a

(15:20):
nationwide abortion ban. They want to see us roll back
these fundamental freedoms and really put women into a second
class citizen, you know, strata. And so I, I think
that what we're seeing is not is not that McCarthy
won't give them a pass. I think we see their
true colors. And that is what you know, that is

(15:42):
what the congressional candidates that we're supporting here in California,
Kristi Smith and the others are really highlighting in this is.
Do not be fooled by Mike Garcia, who's trying to
dodge this issue. He is is is he is as
extreme as they come on this issue. And he's not
only coming after our right to access abortion care, he's

(16:05):
coming after your right to contraception, he's coming after your
right to IVF. He's coming after your right to make
personal decisions about your body, your life, and your future
and your family. And we need to be unequivocal that
that is who these people are. And that's you know,
that is why we are so invested in these congressional

(16:26):
flips that I mentioned those three races.

S2 (16:29):
Yeah. And it seems to me that the Gramm thing
must really help you articulate the urgency of these races. Right.
Because a couple of weeks ago, the discussion was about like, okay, well,
this is the decision, but nothing's going to happen here
in California. And a lot of people just dismiss Prop
one as basically saying it's just a way to get
Democratic turnout up and, you know, nothing is actually going
to change here. But then Gramm introduces the bill and

(16:50):
you start to think, wow, this is actually not that crazy, right? Because,
you know, both both houses are very close in terms
of numbers. And McConnell would certainly, you know, remove the
filibuster at will, you know, as he's done in the past,
would change the rules as needed. So, you know, how

(17:10):
are you doing that? Gramm Introduction. It kind of changes
the dynamic of people saying, Oh, no, it really does
matter who's in control of the house.

S4 (17:21):
Right. I mean, I want to zoom out for a
second here and then zoom in. So one thing is
we actually have an opportunity with this election with Rural
Vember coming up and of course, ballots drop here in
two weeks basically. So coming up very quickly, we have
an opportunity to not only hold the house but to
gain ground in the Senate. And if we're able to

(17:42):
do that, just two additional U.S. Senate seats and keep
the House, we have an opportunity to actually pass the
Women's Health Protection Act. They would be willing to suspend
the filibuster rule and actually cast a vote on Women's
Health Protection Act enshrined enshrining a federal protection to the
right to abortion in this country. And President Biden has

(18:03):
already said that he would sign that. That would be
obviously a fundamental game changer, because we are talking about
14 states already that have total abortion bans, in effect,
a total, total or very, very extreme bans on abortion
in effect, and other states that have tried and continue
to try to put bans into effect. But where that

(18:27):
ban is is going back and forth in the courts. Right.
And it's a constantly changing landscape on the national scale,
creating incredible uncertainty and chaos, really, for people who need
to access care. And a lot of fear about how
to do that and where to do that safely. So

(18:48):
we have you know, this election comes with. Just incredible
national consequences. And you could go state by state and
really to interrogate what that looks like in Michigan. Abortion
is on the ballot. They are doing what we are doing,
a proactive ballot measure to protect the right to abortion.

(19:10):
You know, their governor is also up for re-election. And
if we're able to protect Governor Whitmer, if we're able
to pass the ballot initiative in Michigan, that would be
a game changer for whether abortion care continues to be
protected in Michigan. Similarly, in Arizona, where there is a
ban that is threatening, we have an opportunity to actually

(19:32):
gain flip their state legislative both bodies of their state legislature.
And there's an open governor's race. And the implications for
Arizona and California cannot be overstated, because if Arizona has
a ban in effect already, because there's so much uncertainty
about ability to get care and what the legal landscape

(19:53):
in Arizona is already, California is seeing a huge influx
in out-of-state patients coming from Arizona and Imperial and San
Diego counties in particular, and L.A. as well. So if
we change the political makeup in Arizona, we could actually
take steps to protect abortion care there. Again, with the

(20:14):
reverberations into California being significant and of course, for Arizonans
actually protecting them rather than what is now this extraordinarily
chaotic environment. So I want to talk about the grand
scheme of things first. The next thing, as far as
looking really specifically at California, we need to remember that

(20:38):
our protections around abortion are subject to who is in
political power. So we have state protections in our state laws.
But if our state legislature changes, if the composition of
that changes, then that can have. Right. That could change.
They could change our state laws. If the governor changes,

(20:58):
that could change our state laws and our state constitution.
We have the right to abortion is embedded in our
right to privacy. That was founded by our California Supreme Court. Well, again,
the governor changes and whoever they're appointed to the Supreme Court,
the composition, their changes. Right. It's the same thing that
we're seeing on the federal scale. We thought that things

(21:21):
were safe with Roe v Wade because it was passed
50 years ago. You know, because because the Supreme Court
held that we had the right to abortion 50 years ago.
But the composition of a court can change. So passing
Proposition one is the best thing that we can do
to insulate the protection of abortion and the protection for

(21:43):
contraception from any political shifts. This is the single most
powerful and important thing that we can do to ensure
that the right to abortion, the right to contraception is
actually truly protected in California for generations to come. We
need to not be short sighted or have a short
memory about how easy it is for the political winds

(22:04):
to shift in any given state. We think of California
as blue, blue, blue. It has not always been that way.
We are the state of Reagan. We need to remember
our roots and that things change over decades. So even
though we have a moment right now with a super
you know, a super majority of folks in the state

(22:24):
legislature who support reproductive freedom and a real reproductive freedom champion. And,
Governor Newsom, that is temporary and that may not be
what California looks like forever. So California voters must enshrine
this right in a much more permanent fashion.

S2 (22:38):
Yeah. I'm so glad you brought that up. You know,
we've talked about this on the show in different contexts
with different issues. Before we had we had Jim Newton
on the show who wrote Jerry Brown's biography and certainly
recommend it to anybody who hasn't read it. It's kind
of the modern political history of California. And, you know,
he makes the same point you did, which is, you know,
in California was actually on a lot of issues, a

(22:59):
fairly conservative place. We had sort of an aggressive law
and order period in the nineties. And for, you know,
most of California's history, actually, our Latino population generally voted Republican.
And then the Republican Party was back to Pete Wilson
days and, you know, all kinds of racist stuff that

(23:19):
was pushed. They pushed a generation of Latinos away from
the party, but it didn't have to turn out that way.
And and we had Mike Madrid and others talking about
these sort of swings, particularly in the Latino vote, which
is the plurality of California. So I do think it's
hard to, as you said, sort of remember that in
the context of like the current California in the place

(23:41):
that we think we know politically, but things can change.
And traditionally it has we've had these swings.

S4 (23:48):
The other thing I want people thinking about is I
feel like I'm saying this like nauseum, but I really
think it's an important point that the California's role in
the fight for reproductive freedom has truly never been more
important than in this moment in history. And I mean,

(24:09):
what I mean by that is, even before the fall
of Roe. About a quarter of all health care facilities
that provide abortion care in the country were based in
California before the fall of Roe, 25%, roughly. Now, as
providers are forced to stop providing abortion care in states

(24:30):
all across the country, that percentage is going up exponentially. Calif.
The role that California plays in actually helping people access
care is extraordinary. It was before the fall of Roe.
Now it is. It is just increasing that much more
so in in a few ways. One, in actually helping

(24:53):
people access the care that they need. California plays a
really important role. We cannot forget that. We have to
ensure that these rights are protected here in a permanent fashion. Again,
reinforcing why Proposition one is so, so, so important. Another
reason we are so important for the country is that
we are. The work that we've done through the California

(25:15):
Future Abortion Council truly does lay out a blueprint for
states like California who want to, you know, be these
reproductive freedom states, be these safe places for anybody who
needs to access care. And the work that we're doing
here and the model that we're setting for the country,

(25:36):
we we actually it's not even that it's incumbent upon
us to be that model, but it's also just. Literally,
it's already what we're doing. And so the role that
we have and for people to sort of dismiss in California,
we're safe. That's actually it misses the point and really
misses the point about what we have to be doing here.

(25:58):
It's not enough for us to just have these sort
of baseline protections. Our role is way more significant than that.

S2 (26:07):
Yeah, great point. But back to Amendment One, and I'm
not asking you for legal constitutional analysis here, but but
but no one's suggesting that Amendment One, even if it
passes and we certainly hope that it will, would overrule
a federal congressional ban on abortion rights. Yes. So just

(26:28):
to be clear, that's just the maximum we can do
at the state level. But if Lindsey Graham has his way,
that would overrule Amendment one, right?

S4 (26:36):
That's right. I mean, it is the strongest thing that
we can do at the state level to protect care.
If a nationwide abortion ban were enacted, we would be
subject to that like any other state. Again, this passing
Proposition one would give the attorney general in California an

(26:57):
additional tool in, frankly, the strongest tool possible to fight
any measure of abortion, of note of nationwide abortion ban.
So that is is another consideration.

S2 (27:09):
And and I don't want to get distracted on a
sort of a quixotic legal argument I heard the other day.
But it was interesting. Which which is. Wow, okay. Let's
just imagine the worst case happens and we have Amendment
One or we have the current state, which is still
a right to privacy grounded in California constitution. And then
that conflicts this better law. I mean, there would be
court challenges, right. And that would ultimately theoretically get to

(27:31):
the Supreme Court. And I suppose our argument would be,
and I don't want to be a lawyer here, I'm
a reformed, self-hating lawyer. But the argument would be that
the feds never had any jurisdiction over abortion and that
Lindsey Graham's bill was, you know, unconstitutional because it doesn't
impact the Commerce Clause. Or maybe we maybe we write

(27:52):
our state law in a way that federal jurisdiction isn't implicated. Ironically,
you'd think that the conservatives to try to do that argument,
because they once pretty much limited federal power, supposedly. But anyway,
I just I just I just think that is like
a Post-it note, like off to the side. And I've heard,
I think maybe too much of this discussion and cable
news and other places like that wouldn't be the end

(28:13):
of the road. But I think what the main thing
people really need to take away here is if the
federal ban passes, in all likelihood, that would stick nationwide. And,
you know, and I guess I guess what we're saying
is the two most important things you can do is, yes,
pass them one. But but maybe even at a higher level,
when these California House seats, which are likely to determine

(28:35):
the outcome of who controls the House, we have more,
I think I think we certainly have more competitive House
seats than any state in the country. That must be
that must be true. Just just given what's going on
in Southern California.

S4 (28:48):
And yeah, I don't know the exact numbers, but it
wouldn't surprise me if that's true. We have I mean,
I think there are ten congressional seats here that are
in play, which is, I would imagine more than in
any in any other state. Yeah. And and holding the house,
obviously we gained ground in the Senate, but we lose
the House. Then we've gone we've gone nowhere. And we

(29:09):
can do nothing to try to provide additional protections for
people in this country. So we have our work cut
out for us. But again, what we know is, thankfully,
Democrats really are recognizing that this that reproductive freedom is
a winning issue and they are running on this issue
front and center in their campaigns. And that is something

(29:31):
we're really thrilled to see. But it's also smart because
people are this is the number one issue for so
many voters in this country right now.

S2 (29:44):
Do you think there's an understated number of women Republican
voters in polling who are either going to stay home
or vote Democratic this time based on this issue? I've
heard this argument that it's sort of like the reverse
Trump phenomenon. It's like, you know, after this particular Republican women, wow,
it's not cool in places. I ran it and said,

(30:06):
I'm going to vote Democratic, but this time to me
and when I'm alone with my ballot, that's what I'm
going to do. Or maybe I'm just not going to
vote at all because I'm just appalled by the whole process.
You think that's possible?

S4 (30:17):
Absolutely. It's something we're already seeing on the doors. Actually,
we have one of our activists in Kristi Smith's district
who going door to door has met Republican voters who
have said, you know, I've been a longtime conservative. I've
always voted Republican in this election. I will not be
I will be voting for the Democrat because and it

(30:38):
is only right, it is because of this issue. The
Republican Party has gone too far. Like I said, they're
overturning Roe is wildly unpopular. People are livid about that
across the board. Then they are they're going further their show.
They've shown their cards in so many different ways from

(31:00):
the actual Supreme Court opinion. Right. Speaking to coming after contraception,
gay marriage, you know, civil rights issues, I mean, so
much that's on the table. And then, you know, Lindsey
Graham coming out and actually introducing a nationwide ban, no less.
What we talked about at the outset, which is that

(31:21):
when contraception bills have been brought before the House, these
same Republican congressional Republicans are voting against contraception. So it's
interesting because it's. They've been so transparent right there, really
showing where they stand. And in spite of in spite

(31:44):
of in spite of the fact that they're seeing and
and they're, you know, political advisers know that it is
really unwise of them to do that.

S2 (31:56):
Yeah. I think the reason I'm struggling with all this is,
like you're saying, believe politicians take them at their word.
And I just assume all politicians are lying. But you're
probably right. So I understand it's I guess the old
saying is when people show you who they are, listen.
And they're just they're just taking a clean boat. But,

(32:17):
you know, you just you got to take them at
their word. It's it's sort of the Clarence Thomas thing
in in Dobbs. I mean, he's he's the only one
who's honest. I mean, he's just like, hey, it all
needs to go. I just if we're done with this,
we're done with gay marriage, we're done with contraception. And
I thought this was stupid in the first place. And,
you know, it's I guess that's what I'm saying. It's
kind of like take it on its face. Don't ever
think it will.

S4 (32:37):
And doesn't it hearken to Donald Trump? I mean, people
didn't take him seriously. And that's why we got into
that predicament in the first place. We didn't somehow didn't
believe that he was going to have it be a
litmus test for any nominee to the Supreme Court that
they agree to overturn Roe v Wade. Then even after
he they they get confirmed onto the court, the American

(32:58):
you know, there's still this this feeling of, well, they're
not really going to overturn Roe. 50 years of precedent,
of course, they're not going to do that. They said
in their hearings in front of the Senate that they
wouldn't you know, they they respect precedent and all of
these things. And we're just we need to know when
somebody absolutely. When somebody shows you who they are, when
you need to believe them. And we would I but

(33:22):
I don't think that they're really pulling a fast one
on anybody in this election. That is what is the
overarching point, right. That, you know, Michael Steele and young
Kim and Mike Garcia and other congressional Republicans across the country,
they can try to hide their records on productive freedom,
but they are out there and they are very bad

(33:46):
and they can't hide from that.

S2 (33:50):
You know, I love this idea as a concept in fiction.
Reading I've heard before is like sometimes the facts, the
actual facts are so crazy that people won't believe them.
They're they're like hard to sell. And I know as
a writer, one time I was talking about Butch Cassidy
and the Sundance Kid, and he actually took out this

(34:12):
incredible scene, which was completely true, because all of his editors, like,
nobody's ever going to believe it. It's just kind of
like that that happened in the instance. And so that's
kind of how I feel about the the contraception vote, right?
I mean, it's like if I if I said that
to Republicans, I no, I don't think they would believe me.

(34:35):
They you'd have to like shown the vote. And even
then they would just be like fake news, whatever. Right?
It's just it's so crazy that it's maybe it's hard
to convince people on this, but you've been talking about
this race races. Are there any that you didn't get
to mention that you want to highlight, particularly in California here,
key races. We've definitely seen some more kind of get
interesting over the last few weeks as these trends have materialized. So. Yeah.

(34:58):
Any more you want to highlight?

S4 (35:01):
I mean, I think certainly from a congressional perspective, those
six races that I mentioned are our top priorities. And then,
of course, as you know, 30% of the state legislature
is open. And so we are doing a ton of
work to ensure that those seats are actually filled by
champions for reproductive freedom. We'll be putting out our legislative
scorecard in about two weeks, and we'll be putting out

(35:23):
our voter guide the week after that. And we are
just I mean, we are leaving it all on the
field this year to ensure that, you know, we pass
Proposition one and that we send a resounding message to
the country about support for abortion and contraception. And, you know,

(35:43):
we are doing everything in our power to ensure that
we can hold the house to California. And have a
state legislature that really continues to reflect the values of Californians.

S2 (35:56):
So that was great. I really appreciate all of the
info I literacy coming back. If people want to help,
obviously they can go to these campaigns directly, but if
they want to help through one central source, through you
and your organization, what's the best way to go about it?

S4 (36:13):
Yeah, I mean, go to our website. You can sign
up to be a member and a volunteer with me
around pro-choice California. And that's the best thing to get
involved with our organization. You can follow us on all
of our channels at Pro-Choice CA on social media. And
then one thing I want to and want people to
know and also share about is one of the bills

(36:34):
that we worked on this year create created a state website,
kind of a one stop shop for information about abortion
care and how to access abortion care in California. And
that website just recently became live it's abortion dot S.A. God,
I would encourage folks to check that out and also

(36:55):
to share it with your networks. Make sure that people
know that this is a resource for Californians and for
anybody who might need to access care here from out
of state. One of the things I love that the
governor recently did is he actually put up billboards in
seven states that have enacted extreme bans on abortion. And

(37:16):
those billboards, you know, they say things like Texas doesn't
own your body. You do need help. Here's the California website,
abortion dot gov. And it is horrible that we have
to do that kind of thing. But it is also
really important that anybody who is in despair in this

(37:40):
country knows that they have they have a safe place.
They have a state that will and several of us
California is not alone, several of us that are really
looking out for them. And we'll do our best to
provide care that people need. So, yes, I would encourage folks,
we are less than 50 days out from the election.

(38:03):
If you're not involved in this election yet, this is
the RO vember election. We need to do everything we
can to ensure that we are protecting people's reproductive freedoms.
Abortion is literally on the ballot in California. And in
many states through the elected officials that we are putting
into office and in a few instances with actual ballot initiatives.

(38:27):
So this is the moment if you've been sitting on
the sidelines, this is the moment to get involved.

S2 (38:33):
Well, Shannon, thanks so much for coming. Appreciate everything you're doing.
And we will put this message out where it inspires. Thanks.

S4 (38:40):
And giving thanks for having me, Brian.

S2 (38:44):
We invite you to share ideas for guests, ask questions
in the comments. You can find us at. Now to
NASCAR followers and subscriber to your podcasts as we continue
to explore the inside stories driving California politics. This is
The Nation State of Play podcast. I'm your host, Brian Miller,
and thank you for listening. OLAS media.