Abortion: The Body Politic, Part 5

In Part 5 of Abortion: The Body Politic, Katie looks abroad for models of progress — and regress — when it comes to reproductive rights and abortion access. What are the trends and how does the U.S. now compare? We check in with the Center for Reproductive Rights to find out. Perhaps no region has seen more progress than Latin America. Human Rights lawyer and one of the founders of the Green Wave movement, Paula Ávila-Guillén, shares her experiences on the front lines of the decades-long fight for reproductive justice and what Americans can learn from our sisters to the South. We also hear from an activist in Mexico who is helping people across the border access abortion care they can no longer get in the United States. And academic, Lina-Maria Murillo gives us context for the unique relationship the United States and Mexico share when it comes to abortion access. There’s no denying the fact that many of the countries we are highlighting are largely conservative and Catholic. What does the progress these Catholic countries have made say about our own complicated assumptions about religion and abortion. We hear from several leaders of faith from a Jewish Rabbi to a Baptist Reverend and leaders from organizations like, Catholics for Choice and SACRED, about how they have worked reproductive rights and abortion access into their faith practice.

More information on this episode’s guests and resources

Center for Reproductive Rights

Women’s Equality Center

Paula Ávila-Guillén

Las Libres

Lina-Maria Murillo

Physicians for Reproductive Health

Catholics for Choice

Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice

SACRED: A Spiritual Alliance of Communities for Reproductive Dignity

Sister Song

Books and more:

When Abortion Was a Crime, by Leslie J. Reagan

A Complicated Choice: Making Space for Grief and Healing in the Pro-Choice Movement, by Reverend Katey Zeh

Guests include:

Paula Ávila-Guillén, human rights lawyer, Green Wave activist

Veronica Cruz, founder of Las Libres

Leah Hoctor, senior regional director for Europe at the Center for Reproductive Rights

Lina-Maria Murillo, professor at Iowa focusing on reproductive rights along the borderlands

Jamie Manson, Catholics for Choice

Katey Zeh, Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice

Rabbi Kelly Levy, Congregation Beth Israel, Austin, Texas

Kenyetta Chinwe, Sister Song, SACRED

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