Aborsh

In this episode, nurse and educator Martha Paynter and Métis midwife Cheryllee Bourgeois explore how abolition and decolonization are fundamentally intertwined with feminism. We discuss the need for a societal transformation that ensures body sovereignty, freedom and safety for all—because imprisoning and criminalizing people cannot coexist with these principles. We envision a Canada where resources are redirected from the carceral system to programs that meet essential needs like income support, housing, health care, and transportation. This shift is crucial to upholding the core tenets of reproductive justice, ensuring that everyone has the autonomy and stability necessary to thrive.

See the play that inspired the podcast. Get your tickets to “Hypothetical Baby,” on stage in Toronto from Feb 22 to Mar 8, hailed for its “sharp and witty writing and nuanced exploration of wider social issues” (She Does the City) from “one of the country’s most original actors.” (The Globe and Mail). Podcast listeners can use the code ABORSH10 for tickets!

Driving through a sea of anti-abortion billboards, Megan wondered why pro-choice voices can’t occupy the same amount of space. Inspired by a road trip conversation, she shares her journey of reclaiming public narratives and advocating for abortion as a visible and unapologetic right. “ We had about a four-hour drive and on the way there we passed like 10 anti-abortion signs on our way there. And I was like, ‘Why can't I put up a pro-abortion billboard?’ and my friend was like, ‘Why can't you?’”

See the play that inspired the podcast. Get your tickets to “Hypothetical Baby,” on stage in Toronto from Feb 22 to Mar 8, hailed for its “sharp and witty writing and nuanced exploration of wider social issues” (She Does the City) from “one of the country’s most original actors.” (The Globe and Mail) 

In this episode, we speak with the research initiative Abortion On Screen about the portrayal of abortion in TV and film and journalists Nora Loreto and Liz Renzetti about the media's role in perpetuating misconceptions and stereotypes about abortion. We examine the framing and portrayals that shape cultural narratives around abortion and influence public perceptions of pregnancy and choice.

See the play that inspired the podcast. Get your tickets to “Hypothetical Baby,” on stage in Toronto from Feb 22 to Mar 8, hailed for its “sharp and witty writing and nuanced exploration of wider social issues” (She Does the City) from “one of the country’s most original actors.” (The Globe and Mail)

This week’s guest is author Kerry Clare, who talks about learning how to openly discuss abortion and share her personal experience. Once she found her voice, she made it her mission to keep the conversation going: “I was one of those people who said, ‘I really am pro-choice, but it would never be a choice I'd make myself,’ which just seems like a really handy way to put it.”

See the play that inspired the podcast. Get your tickets to ‘Hypothetical Baby,’ on stage in Toronto from Feb 22 - Mar 8.

Like abortion, sex ed is a human right, and in this episode, we draw parallels between comprehensive sex education and abortion access. We discuss how the moral panic around sex education fuels harmful taboos and enables abuse, and how terms like “pro-life” and “parental rights” are often weaponized to disguise far-right political agendas — one that strip kids, women, queer and trans people of their human rights by going after their safe spaces.

Featuring author Sheima Benembarek and Janani Suthan from the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity

See the play that inspired the podcast. Get your tickets to Hypothetical Baby, on stage in Toronto from Feb 22 - Mar 8th. 

Rachel Cairns follows up the launch of the second season of her podcast ABORSH (Winner of the Planned Parenthood Toronto’s Choice Award for excellence in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights advocacy and education) with this highly anticipated remount production that mixes data and drama to publicly talk about abortion the way we do privately—with neurotic vulnerability, unflinching honesty, and frank irreverence.

Christa’s abortion story is intertwined with other profound experiences of grief and the duality often present in life’s defining decisions. As captured by a friend's advice: “She told me about other people who had had abortions that she knew. And it helped a lot. And she gave me advice that I've applied many points in my life. She said, if you'd had a kid, it would have been really hard. And it would have been beautiful. And now you've chosen not to, and it's going to be really hard, and it's going to be beautiful.”

See the play that inspired the podcast. Get your tickets to Hypothetical Baby, on stage in Toronto from Feb 22 - Mar 8. 

Rachel Cairns follows up the launch of the second season of ABORSH (Winner of the Planned Parenthood Toronto’s Choice Award for excellence in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights advocacy and education) with the highly anticipated remount production of Hypothetical Baby, a play that mixes data and drama to present an autobiographical work that dares to publicly talk about abortion the way we do privately—with neurotic vulnerability, unflinching honesty, and frank irreverence.

Check out Christa Couture’s work at christacouture.com—discover her writing, music, and other inspiring projects. 

In this episode, we're diving into a topic we touched on last season, one that’s often at the beginning of many abortion stories: birth control. What we love about it. What we wish was better about it. Why it should be part of publicly funded health care, and how it can even help reframe conversations about abortion.

See the play that inspired the podcast. ‘Hypothetical Baby’ is on stage in Toronto from Feb 22 - Mar 8. Get your tickets here.

Rachel Cairns follows up the launch of the second season ofABORSH (Winner of the Planned Parenthood Toronto’s Choice Award for excellence in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights advocacy and education) with this highly anticipated remount production of Hypothetical Baby, a play that mixes data and drama to publicly talk about abortion the way we do privately — with neurotic vulnerability, unflinching honesty, and frank irreverence.

Episode Sources: 

https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/state-policies-abortion-bans

https://health.wusf.usf.edu/health-news-florida/2024-02-05/politifact-fl-how-many-women-live-in-states-with-abortion-bans-fact-checking-vp-harris

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2024/08/20/how-americans-really-feel-about-abortion-the-sometimes-surprising-poll-results-as-dnc-gets-underway/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2024/08/20/how-americans-really-feel-about-abortion-the-sometimes-surprising-poll-results-as-dnc-gets-underway/

https://reproductiverights.org/trump-presidency-2024-threats-reproductive-freedoms/

https://jessica.substack.com/p/project-2025-abortion-explainer?open=false#§how-project-enables-clinic-violence

https://populationmatters.org/news/2019/03/gender-equality-boosts-teen-contraceptive-use/

https://kinfertility.com.au/blog/how-easy-is-it-to-get-the-pill-around-the-world#:~:text=Indeed%2C%20the%20pill%20was%20only,women%20%5B3%5D%5B4%5D

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-09-09/japan-s-gender-pay-gap-seen-higher-than-oecd-peers-through-2054

https://www.humanrightsresearch.org/post/inside-japan-s-challenge-to-remain-equal

https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2024/06/d578aaf9c1f4-japan-ranks-118th-in-2024-gender-gap-report-still-far-worst-among-g7.html#:~:text=Japan%20ranked%20118th%20among%20146,World%20Economic%20Forum%20said%20Wednesday

https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/women-and-education

https://www.statista.com/statistics/447858/enrollment-of-postsecondary-students-in-canada-by-gender/#:~:text=Canada%3A%20university%2Fcollege%20enrollment%202000%2D2021%2C%20by%20gender&text=In%202021%2C%20around%201.2%20million,institutions%20in%20that%20same%20year

https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/files/documents/2023/Feb/undesa_pd_2022_world-family-planning.pdf

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29433012/

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/sep/08/jennifer-gunter-gynaecologist-womens-health-bodies-myths-and-medicine

https://osf.io/xwv7k/

https://thewalrus.ca/why-women-hate-the-pill/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwmMayBhDuARIsAM9HM8fdvUj8NgU3Y8mW7MQDvTMgRgkQNAEf3iKhArC0MbY5zVv6_HJsAxEaAhoxEALw_wcB

https://vajenda.substack.com/p/yes-theres-a-new-paper-on-hormonal

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5505765/#:~:text=Fifty%2Done%20percent%20of%20women,a%20current%20method%20of%20contraception

https://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/birth-control-and-reproductive-justice

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5505765/#:~:text=More%20Canadian%20women%20are%20relying,Gynaecologists%20of%20Canada%20(SOGC)

https://med-fom-cart-grac.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2020/12/2015-BC-Sexual-Health-Indicators-CART-CSHS_2017-06-15.pdf

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/checkup/checkup-canada-pharmacare-ai-in-workplace-1.7129412#:~:text=About%201%20in%205%20Canadians,cost%20roughly%201.5%20billion%20dollars

https://cancer.ca/en/about-us/media-releases/2024/national-pharmacare/

Get your tickets to Hypothetical Baby, the play that inspired Aborsh! Running February 22–March 8 in Toronto. Tickets at www.rachelcairns.ca.

For more episodes of Expectant, listen here

A complete list of guests from this season:

Joyce Arthur founder of Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada

Chantal Parkinson from the Pro-Choice Society of Lethbridge and Southern Alberta

Fred Chabot from Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights

Jessi Taylor from Reproductive Justice New Brunswick

Rachael Johnstone

Judy Rebick

Darrah Teitel

Tom Hooper

Carolyn Egan from the Ontario Coalition for Abortion Clinics

Dr Dustin Costescu

Claire Dion Fletcher co-chair of the National Aboriginal Council of Midwives

Dr Ruth Habte

Dr Tunde-Byass President of the Black Physicians of Canada

Sarah Kaplan founder of the Institute for Gender and the Economy