I sit down with Carrie Baker, a professor of the study of women and gender at Smith College. She’s authored a number of books on women’s legal history, gender policy, and reproductive health activism; her most recent book, “Abortion Pills: US History and Politics”, examines the history of the medication throughout American history. We discuss today’s anti-abortion movement, from contraception to anti-abortion centers.

WATCH ON PBS NEWSHOUR: Rise of crisis pregnancy centers highlights shift in anti-abortion movement https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/rise-of-crisis-pregnancy-centers-highlights-shift-in-anti-abortion-movement 

The abortion pill was developed and first approved for use in France in the 1980s. But it took until 2000 for the medication to finally get approval in the United States, after years of work by activists and healthcare professionals. One of the women involved in that work is Elisa Wells, co-founder of Plan C, which provides information and education about accessing abortion pills in the U.S. Sarah sits down with her to discuss the history of activists helping women get access to abortion and how groups are carrying on that legacy today.

WATCH ON PBS NEWSHOUR: Underground networks for abortion pills appear as states limit access https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/underground-networks-for-abortion-pills-appear-as-states-limit-access 

Plan C Pills: 

https://www.plancpills.org/ 

Today in the United States more women opt to use abortion medication than receive a surgical abortion to end a pregnancy. But the future of access to those pills is uncertain. Throughout the country, health care workers, doulas and ordinary people are stepping in to make sure women can still get abortion pills, even where it is banned. We spoke with two of the people involved in these networks.

WATCH ON PBS NEWSHOUR: Underground networks for abortion pills appear as states limit access https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/underground-networks-for-abortion-pills-appear-as-states-limit-access 

Medication abortions make up more than 60 percent of all abortions in the United States today. But after the fall of Roe, abortion pills are now banned in at least 14 states. That’s led to the rise of underground networks, operating outside the legal system, to give more people access to abortion medication. We sat down with one of the women involved in these networks.

WATCH ON PBS NEWSHOUR: Underground networks for abortion pills appear as states limit access https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/underground-networks-for-abortion-pills-appear-as-states-limit-access

Brown University professor Liz Tobin-Tyler walks us through what researchers have found about the link between abortion bans and domestic violence, and how access to firearms in the U.S. can turn volatile homes into deadly ones. She says a victim is five times more likely to be killed when a gun is in the home. And the states with more abortion restrictions, tend to be the ones with lax gun laws.

WATCH ON PBS NEWSHOUR: Abortion restrictions may be fueling a rise in domestic violence, experts warn

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/abortion-restrictions-may-be-fueling-a-rise-in-domestic-violence-experts-warn

Domestic Violence Hotline: If you are affected by relationship abuse, you can reach an advocate at the National Domestic Violence Hotline. Visit thehotline.org. Text BEGIN to 88788. Call 800-799-SAFE (7233). Call 911 if you feel like you are in immediate danger or a life-threatening situation.

Directory of Local Providers: https://www.thehotline.org/get-help/directory-of-local-providers/ 

Anthony Hingle has spent years working with men who have abused those closest to them to help stop the cycle of abuse. At Beyond Harm, a domestic violence intervention organization in New Orleans, Hingle often starts by asking the men to acknowledge the harm they’ve caused, sometimes to their pregnant partners or with a new baby in the home. Sarah sat down with him at Beyond Harm’s office in the Mid-City neighborhood of New Orleans.

WATCH ON PBS NEWSHOUR: Abortion restrictions may be fueling a rise in domestic violence, experts warn

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/abortion-restrictions-may-be-fueling-a-rise-in-domestic-violence-experts-warn

Beyond Harm NOLA:

https://www.beyondharmnola.org/ 

Domestic Violence Hotline: If you are affected by relationship abuse, you can reach an advocate at the National Domestic Violence Hotline. Visit thehotline.org. Text BEGIN to 88788. Call 800-799-SAFE (7233). Call 911 if you feel like you are in immediate danger or a life-threatening situation.

Directory of Local Providers: https://www.thehotline.org/get-help/directory-of-local-providers/ 

Mariah Wineski has spent more than two decades helping survivors of domestic violence. Wineski spoke with Sarah about the misconceptions about domestic violence and the patterns of coercive and controlling behaviors that can go far beyond physical violence.

WATCH ON PBS NEWSHOUR: Abortion restrictions may be fueling a rise in domestic violence, experts warn

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/abortion-restrictions-may-be-fueling-a-rise-in-domestic-violence-experts-warn

Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence:

https://lcadv.org/about/staff-and-board/ 

Domestic Violence Hotline:  If you are affected by relationship abuse, you can reach an advocate at the National Domestic Violence Hotline. Visit thehotline.org. Text BEGIN to 88788. Call 800-799-SAFE (7233). Call 911 if you feel like you are in immediate danger or a life-threatening situation.

Directory of Local Providers: https://www.thehotline.org/get-help/directory-of-local-providers/ 

A woman's risk of being killed in the United States increases by 20 percent on average when pregnant or after giving birth. For those under 25, that risk more than doubles. In fact, pregnant and postpartum women are more likely to be killed, than die from childbirth-related issues like severe bleeding, infection and high blood pressure. And many killings are the result of domestic violence. In this episode of Body & State, Sarah travels to Louisiana where she interviews Shona Chavis, a domestic violence survivor and trauma educator. Chavis grew up in rural Louisiana with a father that brutalized her mother, even when she was pregnant. Years later, Shona saw some of those same patterns in her own husband, as he began controlling and abusing her.

WATCH ON PBS NEWSHOUR: Abortion restrictions may be fueling a rise in domestic violence, experts warn

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/abortion-restrictions-may-be-fueling-a-rise-in-domestic-violence-experts-warn 

Domestic Violence Hotline:  If you are affected by relationship abuse, you can reach an advocate at the National Domestic Violence Hotline. Visit thehotline.org. Text BEGIN to 88788. Call 800-799-SAFE (7233). Call 911 if you feel like you are in immediate danger or a life-threatening situation.

Directory of Local Providers: https://www.thehotline.org/get-help/directory-of-local-providers/ 

In this episode of Body & State, Sarah interviews conservative commentator Bethany Mandel, who writes about the declining birth rate and considers herself a pronatalist. Mandel and her husband, both Orthodox Jews, live in suburban Maryland with their six children. Through her writing and her podcast “The Mom Wars”, she aims to be a more moderate voice among pronatalists, and encourages people to have kids by showing how rewarding a big family can be.

Watch our PBS NewsHour segment about the pronatalism movement and its ties to anti-abortion activism 

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/a-look-inside-the-pronatalism-movement-encouraging-americans-to-have-more-children

Read/Listen: Bethany Mandel on The Mom Wars

https://themomwars.substack.com/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mom-wars/id1796727112

In this episode of Body & State, Sarah sits down with Roger Severino, vice president of domestic policy at The Heritage Foundation and a key author of Project 2025, the right-wing plan that has become a blueprint for the Trump administration’s policies. A conservative Catholic and long-time opponent of abortion rights, Severino wants the government to promote policies that favor heterosexual marriage and parenting. He says these “pro-family” policies are key to stemming what he believes is a catastrophic decline in births. He also predicts these falling birth rates in the United States will lead to a fight for resources between the young and old, and a breakdown in the social safety net.

Watch our PBS NewsHour segment about the pronatalism movement and its ties to anti-abortion activism 

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/a-look-inside-the-pronatalism-movement-encouraging-americans-to-have-more-children

Read: "Project 2025” Mandate for Leadership The Conservative Promise

Chapter 14 Pg. 449  Written by Roger Severino

https://static.heritage.org/project2025/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf

Read: How Project 2025 Seeks to Obliterate Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/how-project-2025-seeks-obliterate-srhr