ACCESS: A Podcast About Abortion

Today we're sharing an episode with you from our friends at Ritually, a Brazen Media podcast.

Last year Nelufar had an abortion. The decision to terminate her pregnancy wasn’t difficult, but the process was. Though studies show abortion pills are safe and around 95-99% effective, in Nelufar’s case, they didn’t work. Shaken by her experiences seeking what should have been routine healthcare, Nelufar turns to full-spectrum doula Sara Bakr for rituals to help her heal from the trauma of medical gaslighting. At a farm and retreat center in the English countryside, Sara and the community who live and work there support Nelufar to process and move on from the experience.

If you're pregnant and want to talk with someone about your options, you can call the All-Options Talkline 1-888-493-0092 in the US and Canada, or the British Pregnancy Advisory Service at 03457 30 40 30. For more resources and a confidential talkline in the UK, check out abortiontalk.com/talk.

Ways to support the show:

• Buy merch on TeePublic or Bonfire
• Make a one-time or monthly gift
• Share the show with a friend!

Resources:

• I Need an A
• Online Abortion Resource Squad
• If/When/How’s Repro Legal Helpline and Repro Legal Defense Fund
• Find your local abortion fund

Logo by Kate Ryan, theme music by Lily Sloane. Additional music in this episode from Blue Dot Sessions.

Have an abortion story you want to share? Send a voice memo or email to accesspodcast(at)protonmail(dot)com. This is a secure email; however, your message will only be fully encrypted from end to end if you also create a free Protonmail account. If you prefer to communicate via Signal, email or DM us on social media for our number.

You can also find us on Twitter and Instagram, and don't forget to subscribe!

Ways to support the show:

• Buy merch on TeePublic or Bonfire
• Make a one-time or monthly gift
• Share the show with a friend!

Past episodes referenced:

• Episode 15: How Anti-Abortion Doctors and Hospitals Put Pregnant People in Danger
• Episode 1: What Actually Happens During an Abortion?
• Episode 2: COVID-19 and the Divided States of Abortion
• Episode 3: The At-Home Abortion Revolution

Resources:

• I Need an A
• Plan C
• Miscarriage and Abortion Hotline
• If/When/How Repro Legal Helpline

Logo by Kate Ryan, theme music by Lily Sloane. Photo by Robin Marty.

Have an abortion story you want to share? Send a voice memo or email to accesspodcast(at)protonmail(dot)com. This is a secure email; however, your message will only be fully encrypted from end to end if you also create a free Protonmail account. If you prefer to communicate via Signal, email or DM us on social media for our number.

You can also find us on Twitter and Instagram, and don't forget to subscribe!

Support the show! Check out our new merch on TeePublic, get a "say the word abortion" hat on Bonfire, or make a one-time or monthly gift.

Guests:

• Jasmine Geonzon, researcher at Media Matters for America
• Steph Herold, MPH, researcher at Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health

Sources:

• Abortion Onscreen in 2022 — ANSIRH
• In the days after Roe's reversal, the top 5 US papers continue to miss key context about the dire revocation of abortion access — Media Matters
• How right-wing media reacted to the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade — Media Matters
• Murdoch outlets disingenuously claim Kansas abortion vote shows “democracy alive and well” despite steep election obstacles — Media Matters

Logo by Kate Ryan, theme music by Lily Sloane. Additional music in this episode from Blue Dot Sessions. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.

Have an abortion story you want to share? Send a voice memo or email to accesspodcast(at)protonmail(dot)com. This is a secure email; however, your message will only be fully encrypted from end to end if you also create a free Protonmail account. If you prefer to communicate via Signal, email or DM us on social media for our number.

You can also find us on Twitter and Instagram, and don't forget to subscribe!

Guest: Jessica Flaum, director of Abortion: Add to Cart.

Support the show! Buy merch on TeePublic or Bonfire, or donate.

Logo by Kate Ryan, theme music by Lily Sloane. Additional music in this episode from Blue Dot Sessions. Photo courtesy Abortion: Add to Cart.

Have an abortion story you want to share? Send a voice memo or email to accesspodcast(at)protonmail(dot)com. This is a secure email; however, your message will only be fully encrypted from end to end if you also create a free Protonmail account. If you prefer to communicate via Signal, email or DM us on social media for our number.

You can also find us on Twitter and Instagram, and don't forget to subscribe!

Guests:

• Nikki Lewis, birth mom and advocate
• Susan, adoptee and writer
• Gretchen Sisson, PhD, sociologist at Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health

Check out our new merch option—baseball caps! (This link is different from our regular merch store.)

Support the show! Buy merch or donate.

This episode is brought to you by OVID, an independent streaming service offering a huge collection of documentaries and contemporary world cinema. This month, OVID has released a special collection of hard-to-find documentaries chronicling the fight for abortion rights over the past fifty years, in the context of the rise of right-wing Christianity in politics, and in the law. OVID is offering ACCESS listeners a special discount offer. Get 50% off the regular monthly membership price of $6.99 if you use promo code ACCESS at checkout! Visit www.ovid.tv to subscribe.

Logo by Kate Ryan, theme music by Lily Sloane. Additional music in this episode from Blue Dot Sessions. Photo courtesy Nikki Lewis.

Have an abortion story you want to share? Send a voice memo or email to accesspodcast(at)protonmail(dot)com. This is a secure email; however, your message will only be fully encrypted from end to end if you also create a free Protonmail account. If you prefer to communicate via Signal, email or DM us on social media for our number.

You can also find us on Twitter and Instagram, and don't forget to subscribe!

Note: This episode states that abortion is banned in Louisiana. However, as of about 6pm on July 12, a court has blocked the state’s trigger ban, allowing abortion services to resume for now.

Where are clinics open?

• Guttmacher: State abortion policies post-Roe
• I Need an A
• Abortion Finder

Information about abortion pills

• Plan C

Support independent clinics

• Keep Our Clinics
• West Alabama Women’s Center (staying open in AL)
• Desert Star Family Planning (staying open in AZ)
• Partners in Abortion Care (new clinic in MD)
• Whole Woman’s Health (moving from TX to NM)
• Red River Women’s Clinic (moving from ND to MN)
• Jackson Women’s Health Organization (moving from MS to NM)

Abortion Funds

• National Network of Abortion Funds
• List of abortion funds by state

Practical support networks

• Haven Coalition
• Apiary for Practical Support

Criminalization

• If/When/How
• Repro Legal Defense Fund

Digital security

• Digital Defense Fund Guide to Abortion Privacy

Support the show! Buy merch or donate.

Have an abortion story you want to share? Send a voice memo or email to accesspodcast(at)protonmail(dot)com. This is a secure email; however, your message will only be fully encrypted from end to end if you also create a free Protonmail account. If you prefer to communicate via Signal, email or DM us on social media for our number.

Logo by Kate Ryan. Theme music by Lily Sloane. Additional music in this episode from Blue Dot Sessions. Photo by Robin Marty.

You can also find us on Twitter and Instagram, and don't forget to subscribe!

This reporting was supported by the International Women’s Media Foundation’s Reproductive Rights Reporting Fund. A written version of the story appears online and in print in The Nation: “What This Later-Abortion Story Tells Us About a Post-Roe Future.”

Guests:

• Kristyn Smith, We Testify abortion storyteller
• Caroline Kitchener, political reporter for The Washington Post (Byron Calhoun says abortion is never necessary to save a mother’s life. He’s the only high-risk OB/GYN in central West Virginia.)
• Dr. Matthew Reeves, founder and executive director of Dupont Clinic
• Dr. Debra Stulberg, associate professor of family medicine at the University of Chicago Medicine and director of the Reproductive Health Outcomes and Disparities Research Group

Support the show! Buy merch or donate.

Music by Lily Sloane, logo by Kate Ryan. Photo courtesy Smith.

Have an abortion story you want to share? Contact accesspodcast(at)protonmail(dot)com.

You can also find us on Twitter and Instagram, and don't forget to subscribe!

Guest:

Dr. Iman Alsaden, medical director of Planned Parenthood Great Plains

Resources:

• Roe Fund (Oklahoma Abortion Fund)
• Abortion Finder
• I Need an A
• Aid Access
• Plan C
• If/When/How Repro Legal Helpline
• Miscarriage + Abortion Hotline
• Digital Defense Fund guides for online safety and privacy
• National Abortion Federation hotline (abortion referrals and financial assistance)
• How to Show Up For Abortion Access by Alison Turkos

Support the show! Buy merch or donate.

Logo by Kate Ryan, theme music by Lily Sloane. Additional music in this episode from Blue Dot Sessions.

Have an abortion story you want to share? Contact accesspodcast(at)protonmail(dot)com.

You can also find us on Twitter and Instagram, and don't forget to subscribe!

Co-moderated by ACCESS and Reproductive Transparency Now.

Panelists:

• Dázon Dixon Diallo, MPH: Founder and President of SisterLove, the first women-centered HIV and sexual and reproductive health organization in the Southeast
• Aimee Registe, Esq.: Policy and Advocacy Program Manager at SisterLove
• Andrea Swartzendruber, PhD, MPH: Associate Professor in the Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department in the College of Public Health at the University of Georgia and Co-Founder of CPC Map
• Danielle Lambert, PhD, MPH: Assistant Professor in the Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department in the College of Public Health at the University of Georgia and Co-Founder of CPC Map
• Maleeha Aziz: Community Organizer at Texas Equal Access (TEA) Fund and Abortion Storyteller with We Testify

Resources:

• How to Show Up For Abortion Access by Alison Turkos

Support the show! Buy merch or donate.

Logo by Kate Ryan, music by Lily Sloane.

Have an abortion story you want to share? Contact accesspodcast(at)protonmail(dot)com.

You can also find us on Twitter and Instagram, and don't forget to subscribe!